Could Things Get Any Worse?
by Blair.Bear.Tate.Monster
Summary: Trevor: Yeah, uh...Pop? Mom? This is Tarah...she's kind of...well...my girlfriend? And uh, well...it's a bit of a long story... Trevor Abraham sherman-Broom has quite a bit of news to share with his family. Way to make Blair look like the good kid...
1. Up To Your Eyes In It

I was in some deep shit; up to my elbows in it. As I walked through the halls of the BPRD with my sister, Blair, Nick, and Tarah, I was trying my best to seem calm. On the inside, I was flipping my shit. How could I have let things go this far? I knew that once the whole story was out in the open, Pop was going to nun chuck me in the fucking face. I didn't even _want_ to know what Mom was going to do.

As we walked down the hall toward Grandpa Broom's study, I pulled Tarah to walk behind me, taking her hand and holding if firmly in mine. She smiled up at me, her hazel eyes shining. "Don't stress Trev; everything will be okay."

I heaved a sigh as we began walking again, Tarah now safely behind me, away from my father's insane nun chucking abilities. "I sure hope so Babe."

We finally made it to Grandpa's study, and I honestly thought I was going to pass out. _I'm in _such_ shit,_ was all I could think. Blair walked up to the large doors and pushed one open before taking Nick's hand and leading the way in. I gulped in what I thought was going to be my last breath before squeezing Tarah's hand and then walking into the room.

Mom and Pop were standing together in front of the fire place, while Uncle Abe swam around in the large tank that took up the right wall. They all turned to face us as we entered; thankfully, they didn't see Tarah at first. (It paid to be tall and wide).

"Hey Blair-Bear!" Pop called as my sister walked up to him and gave him a quick hug. It was difficult for her to move her arms since they were all bandaged up, but she managed. "What's up?"

"Well, Daddy," Blair started to say in her sweet voice. _Damn it, they're going to know something's up now,_ I thought as my sister continued. "Trevor has something he needs to tell you. Trev?"

I suddenly felt like I was a kid again, having to fess up to breaking something. I gulped as my Pop's gaze fell on me. I took a deep breath and then, before I could chicken out, pulled Tarah out from behind me. Tarah's eyes were wide from the sudden movement, Pop's and Mom's eyes were wide from the shock of seeing Tarah.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion; Uncle Abe swam to the glass of his tank, looking the situation over. Blair and Nick had backed away, obviously wanting to be as far away from the impending explosion. Mom and Pop looked from me to Tarah, who was keeping her gaze locked on the ground.

Mom's uncertain voice shattered the silence. "Trevor…Abraham…Sherman…Broom!"

Definitely in it up to my eyeballs…

**I was true to my word! Trevor's story! I haven't done much with writing from a guy's point view, but I'm hoping it sounds alright so far. I hope everyone will enjoy this story! It's going to be…interesting :)**

**Read and Review! Much love!**

**BBTM**


	2. The Shit Fan Is Offically Covered

Mom had dragged Pop's favorite overstuffed chair out into the middle of the room and forced me to sit down in it. She started to try and find a second chair for Tarah, but Tarah parked in Indian style on the floor beside my feet. I let my tail rest over her shoulder, and she gently kept her hand around it. Our own inside joke.

Pop's voice boomed throughout the large study as he spoke. "Alright Trevor, start talking," he said.

I heaved a sigh, "Alright." I motioned to Tarah. "This is Tarah…She's…well, my girlfriend. And I brought her here to the BPRD because A) She was living in an abandoned building out in down town Newark. It's freaking cold out there. B) Well, I care about her, and I was tired of having to sneak out to see her. I wanted you guys to know about her. And C)…" I trailed off, not wanting to say it. I was absolutely petrified of how my parents would react.

Tarah's voice piped in from down on the floor. "Mr. and Mrs. Broom?" Both of my parents looked at her, their gazes softening ever so slightly. "I just wanted to let you know, I really care about your son. He's been a wonderful friend to me the past year and a half, and I honestly don't think I would have survived without him."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Pop held his stone hand in the air; the ultimate 'stop talking' maneuver. "Past year and a half? Trevor, how long have you known this girl?"

I took a deep breath. "It's a really long story," I said.

"You don't have anywhere to be anytime soon," Mom's voice was cold as she spoke. "Get to it."

I took another deep breath and felt Tarah squeeze the end of my tail gently for encouragement. "Okay. About a year and a half ago, Pop, you and Mom went off on a mission to Germany; something about helping Johann with some…I don't know some critter. Anyway, Manning had pissed me off, so I broke out and ran off."

"Like father, like son," Uncle Abe said from his tank, trying to lighten the mood.

I shook my head slightly before continuing. "Anyway, I did some exploring and ended up going into this abandoned building. That's where I found Tarah." I curled my tail around her, holding her to me protectively. "She was just sitting on an old cot with a blanket wrapped around her, reading a big ass book at 2 a.m."

"Trevor!" Mom hated my vocabulary sometimes.

Tarah's voice piped up again, stronger than before. "Trevor helped me out; helped me find food, showed me how to make a fire in a metal garbage can to keep warm. He tried to get me to go to a woman's shelter, but…I can't be around people."

My parents both eyed her with strange looks, and then both shook their heads as if to say, 'I'll ask later.'

"So, after meeting her that first night, I started sneaking out about once a week to check on her, make sure she was warm, safe, and healthy. I guess…well, after spending so much time with her, I kind of…well fell for her." Tarah squeezed my tail gently again; I knew that there was a smile on her face.

"Trevor had been coming around for about a year before we…well, I guess confessed how we felt," Tarah said, gently stroking my tail gently. "And well…after that…things moved pretty fast."

Pop eyed us both suspiciously. "How fast is fast?"

I leaned forward in my chair, placing my right hand on Tarah's shoulder. "You guys have to understand why I snuck her in here. It's freezing out there, and I _had_ to take care of her. It's dangerous for anyone to be out in that weather, but for Tarah…I'd never be able to forgive myself if I let her live out there, where she could get sick, or hurt, or…" I trailed off, knowing I wasn't exactly sounding like my usual self.

As I shook my head and tried to get my thoughts organized, Pop spoke. "So, I'm assuming you brought her here when you left the rest of us up in Maine. And you kept the poor girl in your room for over a week. Jeez, you're either very brave or very stupid little lady."

Tarah laughed a little at my Pop's joke, and the sound of it put me at ease. "He actually cleaned it up after he brought me here. And he's kept it rather clean."

Mom cleared her throat in an aggravated manner. "Trevor, you still haven't exactly given us a really good reason as to why you snuck a girl into a top secret government facility _without_ mine or your father's permission."

"Mrs. Broom, Trevor brought me here, first and foremost, because I belong here. I'm a…well, an element manipulator. I can control water."

Mom threw her hands up into the air in exasperation. "Way to go Trevor! You managed to find someone with the exact _opposite_ ability as your sister and I! Great choice!"

"She is a great choice!" I barked, surprising everyone in the room. I saw Blair jump out of the corner of my eye. "Tarah is smart, funny, amazingly talented, and you know what Mom? She didn't think twice about being with me. Despite the fact that I look like a stupid comic book character-"

"Hey!" Pop barked in surprise.

"No offense, Pop. Anyway, Tarah doesn't care in the least that I'm a huge red guy!"

Mom's eyebrow twitched slightly as she crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. "_Still_ not hearing a good reason Trevor."

Tarah went from sitting Indian style to being up on her knees; my tail was still draped over her shoulder as she looked at my parents.

With the words that came out of her mouth, I came to the realization that I was dead. D.E.A.D. No way around it.

"Trevor brought me here because I'm pregnant with his child."

Oh yes; the shit has hit the fan. Big time. And the fan is completely covered.

**Lol, like the summary says, way to make Blair look like the good kid!**

**R&R please!**


	3. Disappointment The Silent Killer

I really thought that Mom was going to start crying; her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were all misty with tears. I looked to Pop; he had his flesh hand over his mouth, his stone hand on his hip in his semi 'I mean business' stance. Uncle Abe had gotten out of his tank and was toweling off as he walked to us. Blair and Nick had both stepped closer, and my sister came up beside me and put a hand on my shoulder.

The silence was killing me; Tarah had scooted back to where she was sitting, still on her knees, with her back to my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, my right going around her stomach, my left going around her shoulders; my tail remained draped over her shoulder. I searched my parents for a reaction. Shouldn't they be yelling at me right now? "Could someone say something? Please? Like, yell at me, or…something!"

Mom went down; everyone jumped because we thought that she had fainted, but she just landed on her butt and sat there, her leg splayed out in front of her in an uncharacteristic manner. Pop remained where he was, but his hand had moved to cover his eyes now, his thumb and middle finger gently squeezing his temples.

Blair, having suddenly lost her sense of timing, gave a sheepish and upward inflected, "Congratulations?"

Mom sighed heavily and pushed some of her black hair out of her face as she spoke. "How far along are you, Tarah?"

I loosened my grip on Tarah, but didn't totally release her. I was still expecting someone to nun chuck one of us in the face. "I'm _maybe_ twelve weeks at the most; I haven't been to a doctor yet."

Mom nodded as Pop sighed; he let his hand slide down his face, and if I hadn't known any better, I would have thought that I had seen his eyes mistier than my mother's. "You two do realize that this isn't a good thing; you're young, you're not married – "

"Pop, you and mom weren't married till I was six," I sighed, moving my hands to Tarah's shoulders and rubbing them gently. She was shivering through her short grey sweater dress. "Marriage card can't be played."

Pop looked away from me, toward the wall of book shelves and exhaled sharply through his mouth. He then gave his head a rough shake and began walking toward the door.

"Brother Red," Uncle Abe's calm voice almost made me feel better. "Where are you going?"

"Going for a damn smoke!" With that, Pop left the room.

I turned my eyes back to my Mom, who had now stood up. She sighed, and then sniffed. "Well," she walked up to me and Tarah and held her hand out. "Let's go talk and get you all checked out Tarah."

Tarah glanced back at me with an uncertain look. I gently squeezed her shoulders. "Go ahead; I'll catch up."

She nodded, leaned back to kiss my cheek, and then took my mom's hand. I glanced at my mother, hoping to see her smile, as if to tell me, "Yeah, you've screwed up, but it's going to be okay, and I still love you." But when I looked up at my mom, she had this sad look in her eyes. She didn't say anything to me as she took Tarah's hand, pulled her up, and walked around me to leave the room.

I leaned back in my chair; I already felt bad enough, what, with ruining Tarah's life by getting her pregnant. Now my Pop was angry with me and my mom was disappointed in me.

"Where's the bridge and when can I jump off?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from breaking. I slumped down and covered my face with my hands.

I suddenly felt a smack on the back of my head. I jumped, uncovering my face, and saw my twin sister standing beside me, her hand behind my head. "What the hell was that for?" I demanded.

"Bad little brother!" Blair's yellow-orange eyes seemed to blaze at me. "You need to stop with the pity party and man up!"

I leaned away from her and glared at her. "Who the hell are you to tell me to stop with the 'pity party'? You're the one who threw a pity party that lasted six fucking months!"

Blair reached out and swatted the back of my head again. "This isn't about me! You need to man up and make things right!"

"How the fuck am I supposed to do that?" I demanded. "I can't de-pregnant-fy Tarah!"

"You really are stupid, aren't you?" Blair all but yelled, attempting to cross her arms over her chest; she cringed as the arms screamed in protest before she let them fall to her sides.

Nick came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Blair, you need to calm down."

Blair shook her head. "No, my dumb ass younger brother needs to be a man and make things right!"

"And how the hell am I supposed to do that, _big sister?_" I demanded, finally jumping up out of my chair and towering over her.

Blair didn't back down as she jabbed her index finger into my chest. "You need to marry the girl!"


	4. The Call of the Cool Ranch Doritos

**Quick Disclaimer: I do NOT own HellBoy or Doritos! (Although I greatly enjoy both!)**

**Also, superspecialawesomemad props to all my readers on all my stories! You guys make me smile every day! Much love and here's hoping you'll keep reading!**

**~BBTM**

**PS: I'm starting yet another project, so if updating becomes inconsistent, I'm sorry!**

Liz led Tarah toward the medical ward, still holding the girl's hand. Abe had followed them, figuring he would be more reliable than any machine or test they had available.

Tarah was nervous; she didn't exactly know Trevor's mother and 'uncle' that well, and she had never really been that good with strangers. Liz finally pulled Tarah into the medical ward, where a wide of assortment of machines were. They were all turned off and they were eerily quiet. The silence made Tarah even more nervous.

Liz closed the glass door behind them and then finally released Tarah's hand; the woman turned to look at the girl. "So, how exactly did you meet my son again?"

Tarah couldn't help but cringe; Liz was more frightening than her own mother. "H-he came into the abandoned building I was living in a year and a half ago," she said, her voice shaking despite her best efforts.

Abe came up beside Liz and put a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Now Liz, calm down; you're scaring the poor girl…"

Liz shook her head and sighed, before motioning toward Tarah. "Well, Abe, do your thing."

Tarah moved back a little as Abe stepped toward her. She wasn't afraid of him; on the contrary, the blue color of his skin and his serene disposition made her feel rather calm. She just wasn't too sure about Abe's 'thing.' "Don't worry," the man who wasn't totally a man said softly. He held a hand out to her, just over her stomach. "May I?"

Tarah glanced from Abe to Liz before letting her eyes drift closed and nodding her head. Abe gently placed his hand on her stomach as Liz watched. Liz couldn't help but be a little angry at this girl; she was another woman in her son's life. She figured that every mother was that way about their son. She knew it was irrational, but she couldn't really fight it.

Abe stepped away from Tarah, who opened her eyes. "Well?" Liz asked, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest.

Tarah watched as Abe looked between the two women. "Well, Tarah is in fact pregnant; congratulations." Abe added the last part softly, for Tarah's benefit.

Liz nodded as she gazed at Tarah. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

Tarah looked at Liz, mildly alarmed. "I'm going to have it, of course; but if you want me to give it up so that Trevor won't have to-"

Liz gave a clouded laugh. "Oh no, no, no. Trevor's not getting out of this one. I guess what I meant is, well…"Liz shook her head. "Are you going to stick with Trevor, or…what? I don't know."

Tarah took a step closer to Liz. "I love your son; more than I can even describe. He's been the best friend I've ever had, and he's…well…he really helped me with a lot of issues I had. And he convinced me of something."

"What?" Liz asked.

Tarah took a deep breath, as if she were preparing to jump into a cold swimming pool. "He convinced me that I should join the BPRD; put my abilities to good use."

Liz nodded her head from side to side, seeing the girl's reasoning, but not totally sold on the idea. "Well, you'll have to go through some training, but I don't see why you can't do it. You and Blair can train together."

Tarah nodded a little before she spoke quietly. "So, I can…stay here?"

Abe placed a hand on her shoulder, and the nervousness that had been rolling in her stomach calmed. "All us freaks have is each other, Tarah. Welcome to the family." He patted her shoulder gently before turning to leave the room. "I'm going to go have a word with Brother Red."

Liz watched her blue 'brother-in-law' leave; then she turned her attention to Tarah. "So," she started. "Twelve weeks…"

Tarah nodded, hugging herself as she shivered again. Despite being out of the cold, she just couldn't seem to get warm. "Yeah," she said. "At the most though; I'm not exactly sure which time…" she caught the look Liz gave her. A '_Way_ too much information' look. Tarah cleared her throat. "We're just going to go ahead and assume twelve."

Liz nodded, keeping her arms crossed as she stood straight. "Well," she said, giving a sigh and then a sniff. "Why don't we go speak with the director, and we can work out getting you your own room."

Tarah nodded, her arms relaxing around herself. "Yeah, okay."

Liz walked past Tarah, heading toward the door when she heard Tarah's stomach rumble with hunger. Liz eyed he girl, then gave a small laugh. "Food first."

"Please," Tarah said, walking behind Liz. They traveled through the winding halls of the BPRD, finally coming to a lard industrial sized kitchen. There was a type of breakfast nook in the far left corner, next to a set of restaurant style double doors. The entire right was taken up by appliances – a couple stoves, two double ovens, and all gas.

Tarah could help but smile; she loved to cook. Liz walked to the left wall, which had a very large food pantry. Liz began looking amongst the shelves. "We'll have an actual dinner around six or so, so we'll just get you something to tie you over. Any preferences?"

Tarah stood behind Liz, looking into the pantry's depths. There was a large assortment of foods: cereals, crackers, chips, even children's snacks like gummy bears and cookies. There were canned goods like tomatoes, mushrooms, corn, peas and a wide assortment of beans. Tarah smiled brightly. "If the whole training as an agent thing doesn't work out, I'd be more than happy to work as a cook for free."

Liz laughed a little as she stood on her toes to try and reach something on a higher shelf. "You have no idea what you would be getting yourself into," she said softly, pushing things on the shelf aside to look behind them. "Have you seen Trevor eat?"

Tarah laughed a charming bell like sound. "I see your point."

Liz smiled before coming down from on her toes. "So, what are you in the mood for? We've got the widest assortment of junk that the US Government could possibly supply."

Tarah chewed her lip for a moment as she thought. She had been having a very strange craving lately. "Cool Ranch Doritos?"

Liz smiled again as she reached onto a middle shelf and pulled out a large bag. "Great minds think alike," she said, leading the way to the breakfast nook. "These things are all I wanted to eat when I was pregnant with Trevor and Blair."

Tarah smiled as they sat and began eating from the already opened bag. "Their sweet siren call is just too much for me to resist," she said, biting the corner off a large chip.

Eventually, the two women fell into a casual conversation. The spoke of where they had grown up (both having lived in a wide range of places), which place had been their favorite (Ireland for Liz, Okinawa, Japan for Tarah); the conversation eventually turned to parents, which both women weren't all that eager to discuss.

"My family died when I was eleven," Liz said, taking a bite of a chip. "Everyone here at the BPRD has been my family for most of my life."

Tarah bit into a chip before adding a small, "I'm sorry."

Liz shook her head as she reached in to the chip bag. "Don't be; the way things have worked out, I'm grateful for what I've got. Definitely could have turned out worse," Liz bit the chip she had gotten in half with a half smile on her lips.

Tarah nodded slightly, finishing the chip she had before speaking. "My parents were in the military – that's why we moved around so much. They weren't exactly prepared to be parents when I came along, but I guess they did alright. I mean, I'm not a psychopath or anything… Dad liked to drink though; and mom was his favorite punching bag when he was drunk."

Tarah ran a hand through her hair as she licked the chip dust from the fingers of her other hand. "Mom got pregnant with my little brother Tristan when I was six; that's when Dad turned to me to be his punching bag."

Liz exhaled sharply; Tarah looked at her. "I'm not sad things worked out that way. If it hadn't been for Dad's poundings, I would never have found out about my abilities. One night he smacked me for no reason and I got mad; I made all the pipes in our base housing burst and then freeze."

"Wow," Liz said softly. The Doritos bag sat empty on the counter.

Tarah nodded a little, a small yet smug grin on her face. "Yeah; my parents ended up sending me to live with my grandmother in Georgia. She died when I was sixteen, and I just sort of…went off on my own. Found my way up to New Jersey by the summer and started living in an abandoned school building. Trevor found me only a week after I started living there."

Liz nodded to Tarah, absorbing what the young woman told her. They sat for a moment in silence before Liz stood from her seat. "Well, let's go talk with Manning. No offense, but I don't really want you and Trev sharing a room."

Tarah nodded before following Liz out of the kitchen.


	5. HellBoy Isn't the Master Slow Clapper

Needless to say, Manning wasn't happy; he stormed away from Liz and Tarah, mumbling about 'bringing more freaks into the world.' The comment had stung both women, but Tarah took it the hardest. She hadn't been hearing it for years, so she hadn't grown almost immune to it.

It was decided that Tarah would room with Blair on a cot until the matter of her own room was settled. Tarah wasn't bothered by sharing a room, but she was worried that Blair wouldn't be too hot for the idea.

On the contrary, Blair was almost overly excited. "It could be like a slumber party!" Blair said cheerfully. "Have you ever been to one?" She asked.

"Uh," Tarah said, glancing back to Blair's mother. "No."

Blair laughed before dragging Tarah into her bed room. "Me either. So I don't really know if it will be like one. Oh well."

Liz shook her head as she watched her daughter dragged Tarah away. Sometimes she really worried that her daughter might have had a split personality disorder. She almost missed the silent days of Blair's depression; she would always shake her head almost violently at that thought. She was glad to see her daughter happy again. Liz went to get Tarah's cot.

Blair's room was almost exactly the same as it had been before she and her family had left on their mission to Maine. Thankfully, the smoky smell from her last flare up had aired out. All of the scorched posters, papers, and bedding had been removed; the bedding had been replaced. The only old bedding was HellBoy's old blue blanket, which Blair had claimed as her own.

"Ta-Da!" Blair said, sweeping her hand out in front of her as she showed Tarah the room. The fish tank gurgled on the desk, a television sat silent on top of the dresser.

Something noticed right away was that there were books. A huge shelf beside the closet, spanning almost from floor to ceiling, was filled with all sorts of books. Tarah scurried over to investigate.

There were text books on math, religion, and education. Fiction works by everyone from Gregory Maguire to Jane Austin. Stephen King, Kelley Armstrong, Stephenie Meyer, Arthur Golden, and Amelia Atwater-Rhodes all crammed the higher three shelves. "You have so many books," Tarah said, skimming her finger along the spines.

Blair came to stand beside the girl; they were almost the same height. Tarah was probably a half inch taller. "Books are awesome; better than movies most of the time."

The two girls stood talking about their favorite books (both were undecided) and which book-to-film adaptations they liked the best. They both agreed that they really like Memoirs of a Geisha the most, despite the fact that the plot line differed greatly from book to movie.

Tarah noticed several of the text books on the shelves; they were all on education. "Do you want to become a teacher?" She asked, turning to Blair.

Blair smiled as she spoke. "Yeah, but I'm going to change my major when I go back to school in the fall. I want to become a counselor and psychiatrist. I want to help people."

Tarah smiled back at her dark hair companion. "That's nice; I really wanted to be a theatre teacher. I didn't graduate high school though."

Blair patted Tarah's shoulder gently. "Don't worry about that, you can always go back; Get you GED, then go to college. Why a theatre teacher?"

Tarah nudged her new friend gently with elbow. "Because I'm a ham," she said with a wink.

Blair laughed, and Tarah began to laugh also. They silenced and turned as the door opened. They thought it was Liz, returning with Tarah's cot. But it wasn't.

In the door way stood Trevor, biting his lip slightly as he watched his girlfriend and sister. "Uh, hey," he said, running a hand through his hair.

"Hey Trev," the two girls responded in chorus with one another. They fell into laughter as they glanced at each other.

Trevor relaxed a little, but not much. "Glad to see you two are getting along," he said, taking a stop into the room. He had his hands shoved into the pockets of the black pants he wore. "Uh, Tarah, can I uh…can I talk to you outside for a sec?"

Tarah nodded, following him as he walked out of Blair's bedroom. They stood in the hall as Blair came to the door. Trevor had taken to biting his lip again.

"What up Trevor? Is something wrong?" Tarah took a step closer to her large red boyfriend, placing a hand on his chest. Her touch calmed him, but his stomach was still rolling in anticipation.

"No, everything's great," he said, taking her hand from his chest. He smiled and silently thanked god that it had been her left hand. "I uh…B-Blair had a talk with me and told me that I needed to man up and make things right with you. I wasn't really sure how to do that, and she kind of…well smacked me in the back of the head."

Tarah laughed a little as she glanced at Blair, who held her hands up defensively. "Hey, it's my duty as an older sister," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Anyway," Trevor said, getting Tarah's attention. "My big sister gave me a bit of advice, and I'm deciding to follow it. So uh…Tarah?" Trevor descended onto one knee, pulling his other hand from his pocket. Pinched in between his thumb and index finger was a small ring; it was a gold band with a blue crystal. "I know we talked about it, and I'm not too sure how serious you were about it, but…will you…"

Blair squeaked loudly from her bedroom door. Tarah was staring down at Trevor, her eyes wide. She looked at the ring in his fingers. "Where did…how did you…I-…I…yes."

Blair squeaked even more loudly and began doing an odd sort of happy dance where she stood. Trevor sighed with relief as he slid the finger onto Tarah's skinny finger. "I remember you telling me how much you liked sapphires; this isn't real. I actually found it in a cereal box a few months ago."

Trevor stood up as Tarah looked at her ring, holding it up into the light. "It's...perfect, Trevor."

She jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. Trevor laughed a little as he wrapped his own arms around Tarah's waist and hugged her back. Blair continued her bizarre little happy dance, and had even added in a little song. "Baby brother, getting' married!"

They were all so oblivious and absorbed in their own world that they hadn't noticed that HellBoy and Liz had seen the whole thing, the two of them carrying parts of Tarah's cot. Nick had come along, carrying what would be Tarah's bedding, and Abe had gathered some toiletries for her. They had all witnessed the entire thing.

HellBoy set down the legs of Tarah's cot and for some strange reason, began clapping his hands together slowly. It was painfully awkward sounding. Blair, Tarah and Trevor turned toward the group, fronted by the big red awkwardly clapping guy. "Pop…just stop…" Trevor said, laughing as he tried to feign embarrassment.

Everyone dissolved into laughter.


	6. Manning Is Pissed

**Hi all!**

**Fair warning, Manning kind of loses his mind in this chapter. I actually do like Manning, I think he's great for comedy, but you've gotta admit: the guy can really be a prick sometimes.**

**R&R**

**X's and O's**

**Ps: This is from Trevor's POV**

You would think that after witnessing something as important as the proposal of two young people who were expecting their first child that there would be a big celebration. You would think that everyone in the building would come to congratulate the couple and offer them their best wishes. You would think that your boss would at least say "good for you, kid."

You would be wrong.

We made our way to the kitchen; Blair and Tarah both wanted to cook a celebratory dinner. Because of all the commotion our small group was making, word of my engagement to Tarah spread fast. Pop had come up to me after the whole slow clapping fail and clapped me on the shoulder. "Congrats kid," he said. I smiled at him and he gave me a hug, which didn't happen too often.

It's not that Pop doesn't care about me, it's just that…well, guys don't hug…

We all walked into the kitchen, Mom, Blair and Tarah leading the way; upon entering the large room, we were met with the scariest thing known to man.

Manning looked like he was about to have smoke pour out of his ears; his face was almost purple as he raised his hand, pointing a finger at my mom and then my Pop. "You two…my office…Now!"

Mom and Pop glanced at each other nervously, like two teenagers caught parking by a cop; now they had to face the wrath of their parents. Pop shook his head as he led the way. Mom glanced back at us; "You guys go ahead and celebrate; Red and I will be back." Then she followed Pop out of the room.

Uncle Abe pushed forward, weaving his way through us 'kids.' "I'll go make sure no one get's maimed."

The 'kids' all exchanged looks; Blair and I knew that Manning wouldn't actually hurt our parents (like he even posed a threat!) but we were worried that he would punish them. For Pop that would mean being locked in his room; it was a favored form of torture by Manning.

I wasn't entirely sure how he would punish Mom, but I _was_ sure that it would suck something major.

Nick and Tarah were looking at each other, their gazes asking, "Could this be our fault?"

I squeezed Tarah's left hand in my right. "Don't worry babe. Manning flips his shit all the time."

Tarah nodded at me as Blair reassured Nick that everything would be okay. "So," my sister started, glancing from Nick to Tarah to me. "Who wants to go eavesdrop?" A devilish grin spread across her face.

Next thing I knew, we were all crouched outside Manning's closed office door. Well, I wasn't crouched; I stood at my full height, pressed against the wall as tightly as I could manage. Tarah was crouching at my feet; her legs curled under her in what looked like yoga pose from hell. Nick stood on the other side of the door, pressing into the wall better than I could since as he was a little twig of a guy. Blair was crouched at his feet, her legs folded under her.

Manning…was…_pissed_…

I don't think I had ever heard the man cuss so much before in my whole life. Well actually, my life since living at the BPRD, but still, you get the point. He was throwing 'fuck' around like a kid throws mud after it rains.

Mom and Pop were silent for the most part; taking the heat so us 'kids' wouldn't get a bad lashing. When Manning turned to dis-ing on my sister and me, they spoke up. Loudly.

"I should never have let you bring your fucking spawn here in the first place!"

"You'd better watch your tone, bub!"

"Oh, the same way you watched those little fuckers HellBoy? I mean, c'mon, you let your son run off and fucking _reproduce!_"

"Actually _Manning_, Red and I weren't even in the country! You wanna blame someone for Trev meeting Tarah? The credits all yours buddy!"

There was a loud thud, like Manning had slammed his fist down on the desk or kicked the wall. "I've had just about enough of you and your _children!_ You all have done nothing but cause me trouble since you came back here!"

"Caused you trouble? Who the hell do you think has whipped entities all over the world on your call just to cover your ass?"

I could suddenly smell burning; okay, now Mom was pissed. Pop addressed her. "Babe, calm down."

"I will not fucking _calm down!"_ Shit, Mom was scary.

I could hear Manning snort. "What? You think I'm afraid of you?"

"No, I know you're afraid of me? Just like you're afraid of my husband and my children; hell, the only person here you're not afraid of is Abe and that's because you know he's a fucking pacifist!"

Uncle Abe's calm voice cut through. "Now, Liz, you really do need to calm down; you're going to set off the sprinklers."

"No Abe! I'm sick and fucking tired of having to answer to this prick! Manning, you are the worst thing that has happened to the BPRD! Not me, not Red, and definitely not my children!"

Another slam. "You know what? I quit. Have fun running this freak show on your own! I'm done!"

The door was pulled open suddenly, and the four of us jumped back. Tarah actually kind of sprung into the air and I caught her in my arms. Blair fell gracelessly onto her back, hitting Nick's legs and taking him down with her.

Manning had his coat on and was cramming a hat onto his head. He glared at Blair and Nick, and my sister actually looked terrified. When Manning turned his gaze to me and Tarah, I saw why. He looked completely deranged; I thought that he had finally lost it. I actually felt sorry for the poor guy.

He sucked in a breath before he spoke. "Good luck surviving without me to run things; you all screwed! Screwed I tell you!"

With that, he was stomping down the hall; a human agent walked past him and started to say hello, but obviously saw the look on Manning's face and decided against it. The guy pressed himself tightly against the wall until Manning had passed and was long gone. Then the agent looked at us. "What's with him?"

Pop, Abe, and Mom all walked into the hall. Mom was still flared up. "Oh nothing," she said with false sweetness. "Just a bit of a mental breakdown."

Pop placed a hand on my shoulder as I set Tarah on her feet. "How much did you hear?"

"From 'fucking spawn' till the end," Blair said as Nick helped her to her feet. Pop shot her a look, a nonverbal reprimand for the bad language.

Uncle Abe stepped toward me and Tarah, who looked really freaked out. "Don't worry about anything; Manning often says things that he doesn't mean when he's stressed."

Tarah nodded solemnly; as we all stood in the hallway, Mom's flames triggered the sprinklers. We all stood in the spray for several moments before we thought to try and turn them off and clean up.


	7. Tarah Can Boil Water

Thankfully the sprinklers were only on for a couple of minutes, so the mess in the hallway wasn't too bad. Mom, Blair, Pop, Nick and Uncle Abe all headed off toward the kitchen, leaving me and Tarah to clean the hallway. I rolled my eyes and sighed. "I'll go get some towels."

Tarah put out her hand to stop me. "No, I can handle it."

I gave her a disbelieving look. "You do realize we'll have to clear the whole floor, right?"

She gave me a cocky grin. "Babe, I'm hydrokinetic, remember?"

I rolled my eyes at her, but only half heartedly. Tarah took up a fighting stance she came had come up with; her left leg was in front, her knees were slightly bend. She brought her hands up just in front of her core, her left higher than her right. Her fingers were curved slightly, in their naturally relaxed position.

Tarah tossed her head trying to get her hair out of her eyes and then took a deep breath. As her eyes drifted closed, I couldn't help but pick on her. "C'mon grasshopper," I said, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the wall.

Tarah shot me a glare before turning back to the task at hand. She let her eyes drift close again as she took in a deep breath. Her fingers twitched slightly; her eyes opened slowly. Tarah took another deep breath before pushing her right hand out from her center. The water on the floor was pushed away from her slightly, maybe an inch or so.

Tarah took another deep breath, pulling her hand back toward her center. The water on the floor moved toward her like it was being siphoned into the palm of her hand. It formed a large sphere as all the water came into her hand. She turned her hand to where the palm, the sphere of water hovering above it by a couple centimeters.

Tarah took a final deep breath before gazing into the sphere as if she was trying to read the future in it. I started looking into it as well, wondering what was so fascinating. As I watched, I saw that bubbles were rolling around inside the sphere as Tarah held it. It was like the sphere was boiling from the inside out.

And then, literally as I blinked, the sphere disappeared and was replaced by steam hanging over Tarah's right hand. She jerked her hand back quickly, shaking it slightly as she rubbed it on her dress. "Hot," she said, the word serving a curse word in its own right.

Tarah seemed to remember that I was with her; she turned toward me and gave a little curtsy. "I believe you'll find all the floors dry Master Sherman-Broom," she said in her mock British accent. It was actually really good, thanks to her many years of watching cheesy Jane Austin based movies.

I played along, bowing to her slightly. "Thank you Lady Tarah; your hard work is appreciated. Now why don't we join the family in the kitchen?"

We both snickered as I walked over to her, taking her left hand in my right. I ran a finger over the ring I had just given her. We had almost reached the kitchen when alarms began going off and red lights began flashing.

Tarah cringed a little at the loud sound of the alarms; she didn't really handle loud very well. "What's going on? Is your mom on fire again?"

"No," I said, pulling her along with me, bypassing the kitchen to head to the briefing room. "Gotta go to work."

**Sorry this is a short chapter! I'm having to split my attention like five ways, but I assure you, I will not allow this to affect the quality of my work (though it may affect the spelling) :_:**

**I'm still not entirely sure where this story is going to end up (which is odd, because normally the ending is the first part I come up with), so it may take me a while to actually get there. I really hope you hang in there though and enjoy the ride!**

**Much Love! XXOOBBTM**


	8. If I Hear Banjo Music I'm Leaving

We got to the briefing room in record time and I pulled Tarah in behind me. I wasn't expecting her to go with me, but I figured she should learn how things worked in the BPRD. After all, the girl wanted to join herself; gotta know the workings.

Mom and Pop were already there, sitting in a couple of the chairs at the head of the table that ran the length of the room. Tarah and I slipped into the room, taking a couple of chairs that were right near the door. Blair and Nick filed in not too long after Tarah and me, taking seats to our left, just inside the door. Tarah and Blair were side by side, giving each other uncertain looks.

Nick put an arm around my sister and squeezed her lightly. Tarah cringed again as the alarms continued to blare and then tried to discreetly cover her ears with her hands. I smiled a little as I watched her; she was pretty cute when she was defenseless. I sort of copied Nick and wrapped an arm around my girl, squeezing her tightly. She smiled a little, but kept her ears covered.

Pop's lips were moving in some sort of snide remark, but I couldn't hear him over the alarms. _Could someone _please_ shut these stupid things off?_ I thought.

As if by magic (or thanks to his amazing mind reading abilities) Uncle Abe walked into the room and the alarms and red lights shut off. There was a collective sigh in the room; Guess everyone hated those annoying little…yeah…

Uncle Abe held a file folder in his webbed hand; he walked to the head of the table, set it down and opened it. He pulled out a large eight-by-eleven photo that, to me, looked like a giant dark blob on a lighter blobby background.

"We're going to Georgia," my uncle said, tossing the photo down lightly on the table. He pulled out what looked like a large poorly written prescription from the folder and scanned it quickly. "There have been reports of a giant eel like creature in the Altamaha River; locals call it Altamaha-Ha."

I was vaguely reminded of Dragonball Z. Uncle Abe continued speaking. Apparently this…Atlantama Ha hadn't been sighted since the 1960's, but it had suddenly resurfaced, pulling people and animals into the river. No one had been harmed up to that point, but local authorities thought it was wise to call the monster experts up north.

"This is another investigation mission; we're only to harm the creature if we find that it is a danger to locals or to ourselves. We leave in an hour. Head out."

It was weird hearing Uncle Abe sounding like…well Manning. I was kind of missing the crazy guy. We filed out into the hall where Pop handed out running orders. "Trev, go get packed real quick then meet me at the loading deck; we've got some weapons to load. Liz, you and Abe gather up all of his books."

Everyone nodded and headed out, except…well, the kids. (I was starting to develop a bit of Scooby Doo complex). Blair was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, looking up at our father. "What should I do Daddy?"

Pop smiled a little, like he always did with Blair, and ruffled her short black hair. "You should help Tarah get settled in. Nick's going to stay here and make sure you two stay out of trouble."

Blair looked a little crest fallen, but nodded. Nick looked at my father and spoke in his bizarre accent. "There _are_ a couple hundred agents here; why am I the only one who can keep two teenage girls out of trouble?"

Pop held his hands in the air, pleading no comment before walking away. Nick led Blair away as my sister shook her head, muttering about not needing to be baby sat. Tarah looked up at me and I took her hand in mine. "Be safe," she said. She always told me that when I had to leave.

"Don't worry Babe," I smirked, pulling her close and kissing her forehead. She was so much shorter than me that I still had to bend over to reach her. "You know me, the second I hear banjo music, I'll come running home."

Tarah laughed a little, nodding her head. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me tightly. "I'll keep Blair out of trouble," she said before releasing me and walking down the hall after my sister and her vampire boyfriend.

I watched her go, watching the way her hips swished and the way her arms swayed at her sides. I had to shake my head a little to clear my thoughts; didn't need _that_ in my head when I was about to be crammed in a truck with my mind reading uncle.

I met Pop at the loading deck after I packed a bag; he had his large trunk of weapons and ammunition. We loaded things into the truck, and the four of us (Mom, Pop, Uncle Abe, and me) piled into the truck. As the hatch was rising, I saw Blair, Nick and my Tarah, waving goodbye to us.


	9. An Adventure to WalMart

As the truck pulled out of the loading deck, Tarah heaved a sigh; she hated it when Trevor had to leave her. But she understood and tried her best not to fuss about it.

"So!" Tarah jumped a little; she had forgotten about Blair and Nick. "What are we going to do Tarah?" Blair was looking to Tarah expectantly.

Tarah shrugged; she wasn't entirely sure what all needed to be done. "I don't have anything to unpack, so I guess we'll just set up my cot."

Nick came up behind Blair and spoke to Tarah over his girlfriend's shoulder. "You don't have any clothes with you?"

Tarah shook her head. "I do…I mean, they're kind of…Trevor's old things. This dress is the only thing that was originally mine that I have left. I wore it to my grandmother funeral."

Tarah felt a twinge of sadness; she missed her grandmother. She had been a large lady, tall and wide with an enormous heart. She loved Tarah very much, despite the girl being a 'problem child.' She had encouraged Tarah to use her abilities and control them. And most of all, the old woman had never once stuck out against her granddaughter, verbally or physically.

"Um, Tarah?"

Blair and Nick were looking at Tarah expectantly; she had gotten lost in her thoughts, again. It was a bad habit she had. "Yeah, sorry," she said, shaking her head a little. "What did you say?"

"Why don't I arrange to have someone take you girls out and you can get some clothes of your own?" Nick smiled at Tarah kindly. He didn't make her nervous like most people did.

Blair looked over her shoulder at her boyfriend. "Nick, I have a car; I'll drive us into town. Just give someone the heads up for us." Blair looked back to Tarah. "C'mon T, we'll go out the back."

Blair ran to her room, retrieving a black cloth bag that acted as her purse. She didn't carry it unless she was driving, but seeing as she was driving into town, she sort of needed it.

She went back to the loading deck where she had left Tarah and Nick waiting. It sounded like the two were talking about music. "Hey," she said, jogging over to the two. "If you can find either Agents Iron or Copper and let them know Tarah and I are out, that'll be good. They're pretty chill when I leave."

Nick nodded to Blair and then pressed a kiss to her forehead. Blair blushed deep red- it was obvious that the couple hadn't been together very long. They pulled apart and Blair walked toward Tarah, grabbing the other girl's arm and pulling her toward a back door.

It was the equivalent of sneaking out the back door of a regular house; only…well it wasn't a regular house. The small door Blair pulled Tarah through lead out into what looked like a simple two car garage. There were (go figure) two cars: both were black, small, and KIAs. One was a Forte, which Liz affectionately called her 'old lady car.' It didn't get driven much, unlike the other car.

Car number two was a KIA Soul, black and boxy and…awesome. Tarah had never really been interested in cars, but she _loved_ the Soul. Her preferred color was the silver shade the car came in, but the black one was good too.

"C'mon," Blair said, pulling her key chain from her bag. There was a plushie Jack Skellington with a key ring attached to his head, holding a car clicker, car key, house key, and three other small keys. Blair turned and locked the door behind her. Tarah thought it seemed kind of pointless, but she didn't say anything.

Blair unlocked the Soul's doors with the clicker on her key chain. "Tarah, meet Onyx." The two girls climbed into the car. Using a remote clipped to her visor, Blair opened the garage door.

After a forty-five minute, the two young women arrived at a Wal-Mart. The store was sandwiched between a Books-A-Million and a Starbucks; the coffee shop was crowded with college students hunkered down over laptops. The book store was full of young kids, attending some sort of release party. Tarah smiled at the children as she and Blair walked into Wal-Mart.

They headed straight for the junior's section, where they began browsing the racks. Blair held out jeans while Tarah pulled out tee shirts. The two had fun picking out clothes, acting girlyer than they would usually.

After finding Tarah a sufficient amount of regular day clothes, the girls went for panties and bras. Beside that section was the maternity clothing; Tarah paused when the pregnancy pants caught her eye. Blair had found a shopping cart where they were carelessly throwing their treasures. She rolled toward Tarah, who had stepped toward a rack of maternity dresses.

"That one is actually kind of cute," Blair said, sensing that her companion might be upset.

Tarah ran her fingers along the soft yellow and blue cotton. "I'm three months along and I still manage to forget it," she said, with a nervous laugh. "I'm going to be a shit mom."

Blair bumped her friend's hip lightly with the end of the shopping cart. Tarah jumped a little and looked at Blair in surprise. "You're not going to be a shit mom; I haven't even known you a day and I can tell you're going to be great. You're good for my brother, and you're going to be good for my little niece or nephew."

Tarah smiled a little at Blair. "Thanks Blair; Trev was right – you're good for a pep talk."

Blair laughed a little, a hint of bitterness in her tone. "Well, after hearing them through over six months of depression, you tend to learn the formula."

Tarah raised an eyebrow, but Blair waved a hand at her. "Never mind, don't worry about it. You should pick out a few dresses. These jeans have some give, but…well-"

Tarah laughed a little before removing the yellow and blue dress from the rack. "Yeah, I hear these things cause quite a lot of bloat."

"Typically, yeah," Blair said. "That's what happens when our moms and teachers get pregnant."

Tarah eyed Blair for a moment before laughing. "Juno; you've got good taste Blair. I think we're going to get along well."

The two finished shopping, leaving the amazing playground known as Wal-Mart with several items, including four rather cute pregnancy dresses.

**Hey all! I know you guys probably wanted to read about Trevor and the mission, but I really wanted to have this bit with Blair and Tarah. I wanted to give them some girly time, and quite frankly, I love Wal-Mart, so…yeah…**

**About the cars, I don't own KIA and if this were a movie, it would be major product placement. I do happen to have a KIA of my own, a beautiful red Soul named Ruby (see the trend?) I also thought it was funny for Liz to have an 'old lady' car. I wonder who could gripe more, Liz or HellBoy?**

**Anyway, hope you all liked this chapter and don't worry, we will see the mission!**

**XXOO BBTM R&R!**


	10. The Devil Went Down To Georgia

**Hey all! Just wanted to let you know, I might not get to update too often for a while! I've got a lot of possible projects pinging around in my mind and I'm pretty sure if I don't tend to them they'll eat away at my brain like little worms.**

**I hope that I won't be away for too long, but I make no promises! Please don't hate me! I'll get back to my current work as soon as I possibly can!**

**Hopefully there'll be some amazing fics produced during this hiatus and I really hope you'll check them out!**

**Stick around!**

**XXOO**

**BBTM**

The Devil Went Down To Georgia (Well, More Like Two Demons, A Fish Man and a Pyrokinetic)

The ride down to Georgia was long and awkward. Mom sat in front of the computers, Pop and Uncle Abe sat at the table in the corner and I stayed on the cot in the opposite corner. There wasn't much talking, which I normally would have been thankful for, but considering everything that had gone on lately, the silence wasn't exactly golden.

We had been riding along for a few hours before I couldn't take it anymore. I cleared my throat; no one responded. I groaned, running both of my hands through my hair simultaneously. It was getting way too long; I needed to cut it something fierce. "Could someone please say _something?_"

Pop glanced over at me. "Like what champ?"

I shook my head as I spoke. "I don't know; I'd almost prefer you guys to all be yelling at me than to just be sitting there in silence."

Mom looked at me from her place beside the computers. "Trevor, why would we be yelling at you?"

I gave her a disbelieving look. "Mom, have you missed the last day of my life? I told you guys that I got a girl pregnant, and then I went and proposed to said girl without even asking your opinion! Don't you think normal parents would be yelling right about now?"

Pop shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose in between his flesh fingers. "Trevor, first of all, we're not _normal_ parents. Never have been. Second of all, it's not like we're…mad or anything."

Uncle Abe chimed in. "We're all a little sad that things got as far as they did without you talking to anyone about them. However, we are…well, happy that you're being a man about everything and taking responsibility for your actions."

Mom smiled softly, putting on what my sister and I call her 'mom face'. "That's all we could really ask for."

I shook my head, still in disbelief. Maybe it was something I would understand once I was a parent (which wouldn't be too long off). I wasn't sure. I just had a deep feeling that I needed to be yelled at by someone.

After hours of riding in the truck, we made it to Georgia. The truck was parked alongside the Altamaha River in a section of thick forest. It was chilly out, not near a cold as it was at home, but still cool enough to need a jacket. I would be glad when spring rolled around.

Then it would be summer; if Tarah was three months along like she thought she was, then our baby would be born in the summer. July or so. I was excited; I was terrified. It was still hard to believe that I was going to be a father.

As my family and team began unloading the truck, I sat on the ramp, wrapped up in my memories and thoughts. Had it really only been six weeks ago that this whole mess had started? Granted, it had turned out to be a pretty good mess, but it was still a mess.

I had snuck out of the BPRD behind Blair; she had left early in the morning, before the sun had risen. She had scowled at me when she realized I was in the garage with her. "If you get caught, don't come crying to me," she said, getting into Onyx and slamming the car's door.

It was around five in the morning and sky was just beginning to lighten. I stuck to back roads to get to the city, then to alleys to get to Tarah's building. It was an abandoned school on the outskirts of Newark; it had been an art school, where students studied music, dance, acting and…well art. Tarah's place was on the fifth floor in what had once been a recital hall.

She had been living there for almost two years; I had been coming to see her for a little over a year. It was the beginning of December, and the sky was heavily clouded, threatening to dump snow everywhere. I had planned on bringing up some wood and paper so Tarah could have a garbage can fire to keep herself warm.

Once I was inside the building, I dumped the sneaking around act and bolted up the stairs. I hadn't been able to see her in a week; I didn't want to wait any longer.

I busted into the former recital hall, scanning the large room for my girl. I found her sitting on the large mattress we had found in the alley behind her building; her back was to me and she had an old comforter I had found wrapped around her shoulders.

I tore my coat off – a hand-me down from my Pop – then my boots; I pulled my shirt off as I walked over to her. It was a little cold, but knew I would get _very_ warm soon enough. I slid down onto the mattress, wrapping my arms around her from behind. I started kissing her neck, but stopped when I felt her shaking. I figured she was cold so I tightened my grip on her. "I missed you," I said, pressing my lips to her ear.

"Trevor," I froze when she spoke. Tarah's voice was thick as if she had just spent the whole night crying. When she turned toward me, my fears were confirmed; her eyes were red and swollen, her nose dripping and her lips were cracked and bleeding as if she had been chewing them.

"Tarah?" I pulled her around to face me fully. "Babe, what's wrong?" I started to panic. I mean, she was an attractive girl living alone in an abandoned building. Not exactly the safest thing in the world. "Tarah, what happened?"

"I'm sorry," she sobbed; tears filled her eyes and quickly spilled over. I absolutely _hated_ when she cried; I always felt like it was my fault, even if I hadn't done anything.

I put my hands on Tarah's shoulders, looking into her face and deep into her eyes. "Tarah, what happened?"

Tarah held her hand out to me; in it was a pregnancy test. A _positive_ pregnancy test. It had been recapped; Tarah had been staring at it all night before I arrived there.

We spent most of the day just sitting on that mattress, Tarah sobbing into my chest and saying "I'm sorry." I held her tight, trying to wrap my head around everything.

"Hey!"

I was pulled from my thoughts when a small rock hit my head, right between my filed down horns. I shook my head roughly and then noticed my father standing in front of me at the bottom of the ramp. He was tossing another rock up and down, eyeing me like a target. "C'mon daydreamer! We've got work to do."

I nodded as I stood and then followed my father to the edge of the river.

**Okay, no mission 'footage' in this one, but I assure you that it will happen next chapter. I intend to give it lots of love and care to ensure that it is as action packed on the screen as it is in my mind.**

**Hope you enjoyed this one!**

**Until next time, world!**


	11. Bad Monster Eel Thingy! Bad!

The river was disgusting, polluted and congested with garbage. It didn't surprise me that the monster that lived in it was pissed. I mean, if people were clogging up your home with crap, wouldn't you want to drown a couple people and their pets?

…

Nothing? Okay, so anger wasn't really an excuse for trying to kill people, but I could understand why the creature was angry.

Mom and Uncle Abe were pouring over his books as they cast uncertain looks at the river. Both were in their mission clothes, and Mom kept a hand on her gun, prepared to draw it if needed. "What exactly are we looking for Abe?" Pop stepped closer toward the river, leaning slightly over the edge of the small earthen cliff we all stood on.

Uncle Abe scanned the pages of his book, attempting to come up with a good enough description of our target. "Well, Altamaha-Ha is supposed to be between ten to forty feet long and one to two feet wide. It's said to resemble a giant eel."

Pop moved over toward my uncle, leaving me looking out at the river. The 'adults' were discussing how exactly we were going to get to the river creature. There were plans to trap it, but they couldn't really do that till they figured out how big the thing was.

As I looked out at the water, I saw movement in the murk. It was like watching one of those weird snakes that moved sideways through the sands of the desert. I crouched down on the ground in an attempt to get a closer look. The water was beginning to move just beneath the surface; it looked kind of like when someone kicked their feet below the water's surface, creating their own little vortex.

But this vortex wasn't little; it looked to span twenty-five feet. I turned to try and call out to my family, show them what I was seeing, but before I could get the sound out, I heard something break the water's surface. When I turned back, there was a huge creature, an ugly slimy thing that just happened to be staring at me. "Oh, crap," was all I could say.

The creature had to be larger than Uncle Abe guessed; it had to be nearly twenty feet from our cliff into the river, and the creature's head towered over me by at least ten feet. Then the creature's thick tail flew out of the water and wrapped around my leg. It pulled me from the cliff and into the thick water of the river.

I heard my mom call my name just before I hit the water, literally, ass first. It stung, but worse than that was the sudden realization that I was trapped under water, held captive by a bizarre sea monster. I reached down to my mid-calf where the creature had wrapped its tail around me. I tried to pry the tail loose, but it had a vice like grip that I couldn't compete with.

Something broke the surface above me; Dad was firing the Samaritan into the water, aiming for the creature's head. Unfortunately, the bullets slowed once they hit the water and didn't affect the creature too much.

Another splash over head; I saw Uncle Abe swim his way toward me, a large knife in his hand. He plunged it into the creature's tail just above where it had wrapped it around my leg. Its grip loosened and I pulled my leg away. I kicked my way to the surface, breaking through and taking a deep gulp of air.

"Trevor!" I looked up to see my mom lowering a length of rope down to me. Pop was standing a few feet away from her, firing his weapon at the creature which had now come up out of the water. It was making this horrible sound, something between a hiss, a scream and a howl. I grabbed hold of the rope mom had lowered to me and began pulling myself up. She must have tied it to a tree, because once I started pulling myself up, she went to stand beside my father, firing her own gun at the creature.

I managed to get up onto the ledge and then turned around to help my Uncle up the rope. I pulled him up and was scrambled to get away from the ledge; it would be pretty pointless to get pulled back into the water. I watched as my parents emptied the chambers of their weapons; Pop fired one last shot, hitting the giant eel in the head, right between the eyes. Altamaha-Ha's head slammed down into ground just a few feet away from where Uncle Abe and I sat.

The creature twitched one last time and then went completely still; I sat, panting and soaking wet, staring at the creature. "So much for trapping it," Pop said, putting the Samaritan back in its holster on his belt. He walked over to the creature, stabbing its head with the toe of his boot. "Bad monster eel thingy!"

Mom had gone back into the truck and grabbed towels for me and my uncle. She came running back out, handed one to Uncle Abe and then collapsed beside me, wrapping the towel around me. "Trev, are you okay?"

She hugged me tightly, managing to squish the air out of my large form. "Mom, I'm fine; calm down."

Mom gave me one last squeeze before standing. "Let's get that thing packaged up; we'll take it back for autopsy and study."

I grimaced; it's true that I tried to be a tough guy, but truth be told, the thought of dissection and autopsy made me want to barf. I stood, trying my best to not watch as my Pop, uncle and the BPRD agent who had driven hauled the giant eel into a large trunk in order to transport it back to the bureau.

It seemed to be an open and shut case; go, kill the monster, pack up, head home. If I had known then what that mission was going to lead to, I would never have gone. As we packed everything up, I glanced out into the surrounding forest. I thought for a second that I saw someone standing in the shadows, but shook my head. It was probably the almost getting drowned playing tricks on me.

I boarded the garbage truck and we headed for home.

**Hey all! Short Hiatus right? I did some thinking and decided that I should just write when things come to me. That being said, don't expect updates to be constant or regular. They'll come when they come. **

**I hope you liked this one! I've finally decided where this story is going to go, and I'm really excited!**

**R&R! BBTM**


	12. Movie Night Gets Interrupted

**Hello all! I've got a couple things to address before we get started with this chapter! First, I don't own HellBoy, or Wal-Mart, or 28 Days Later, or anything that I obviously don't own that might be mentioned in this story.**

**Secondly, and I really hate to do this because it seems like begging, but I would greatly appreciate it if my wonderful readers would check out my other stories and tell me what you all think. There is one in particular for Treasure Planet that I'm worried about, and would really like some feedback.**

**Thanks so much, now, on with the show…I mean story!**

While Trevor was off, trying his best to not be drowned by a giant eel monster…thing, Tarah and Blair made it back to the BPRD and got Tarah all settled in to her new home. Since the two young women were going to be rooming together, Blair offered up space in the closet and dresser for Tarah's things. "Are you sure?" Tarah asked after removing all the tags from her clothes and getting them washed and dried.

Blair tossed a balled up sock at Tarah's head, which Tarah easily dodged. "If I wasn't sure," the dark haired girl said, helping Tarah fold her newly attained clothes (at the government's expense). "I wouldn't have moved things around so you could have room for your things. Duh!"

Tarah smiled at her new friend, picking up the sock and tossing it back. Blair laughed when the sock hit her in the forehead before turning back to folding Tarah's clothes. She held up one of Tarah's maternity dresses, examining the pink and yellow checkered pattern. "This one is really cute; it'll look good on you when you really start showing."

Tarah nodded, opening the top drawer on the dresser; she had meant to open the drawer below that, and quickly moved to close it, but something caught her eye. A small brown box sat partially hidden among sock rolls. Tarah cocked her head to the side slightly. "Blair?" She reached into the drawer, running her fingers across the box. It was beautiful, finished mahogany. "What's this?"

Blair looked up from the laundry she was folding and frowned deeply when she saw where her friend was referring to. She stepped forward, reaching into the dresser drawer and taking the box gently in her hands. It was small, just big enough for Blair to have to hold it with both of her hands, and had a beautiful burn pattern on the front. Old English script letters spread across the lid. B.F.S.B.

"It's my treasure box," Blair said, her voice a little sadly.

Tarah gently ran her fingers across the lid, tracing the letters with her index finger. "What is 'B.F.S.B.'?"

"It's my initials," Blair said, turning and walking toward the bed, taking a seat and opening the box. Inside were several small trinkets – a small pink bouncy ball, a small bracelet woven from red and black yarn, movie ticket stubs, and an assortment of other small treasures. "My full name is Blair Fionnuala Sherman-Broom."

"Wow," Tarah sighed, taking a seat beside her friend. "That's a beautiful name. Much better than mine." Blair gave Tarah a questioning look. Tarah stuck her tongue before reciting her own name. "Tarah Tallulah Golds."

Blair laughed loudly as Tarah made a gagging sound. "_Tallulah_? Tarah _Tallulah?_"

Tarah laughed. "I know, right? It was my dad's idea; he told me it meant "leaping waters" in Choctaw. I went and did some research, turns out it actually means "town"."

Blair laughed harder as Tarah continued. "And my first name actually is the feminine form of a biblical name that means "wild goat" or "station". That's me! "Wild goat" "station" "town" Golds!"

Blair was laughing so hard that tears had filled her eyes. "Oh…my gosh…no offense girl, but your name is ridiculous."

Tarah laughed as well; her name _was_ pretty ridiculous. The two sat laughing for several moments before they managed to catch their breath and actually speak. "Okay," Tarah semi-coughed in her attempt to speak through her laughter. "Okay, so why did you have your treasure box hidden in your sock drawer?"

Blair grew quiet, setting her treasure box down on her lap. "I have issues, Tarah." Blair cast her gaze down to the open box; her eyes settled on a length of pictures from a photo booth. In the picture, Blair was sitting in the lap of an attractive young man. Both of them were smiling, making goofy faces, and holding bunny ears behind each other's heads. The final square at the bottom of the strip, the young man had put his hand on the side of Blair's face, turning it towards his, and was kissing her. Photo Blair's eyes were wide, but clearly happy.

Tarah gently took hold of the strip of photos, examining each one. Across the top were the words 'Best Friends'. Those words seemed to describe the pair in the photos very well. The young man had a curly mop of brown hair on top of his head and a large smile that revealed braced teeth. "This isn't Nick," Tarah said softly.

Blair nodded, sniffing a little. "That's uh…my best friend from high school. His name was Andrew."

Tarah tore her gaze away from the photos to look at her friend. Blair had fresh tears in her eyes, but from the look on her face, Tarah could tell that they were brought on by painful memories. "Do you want to talk about it?"

The whole ugly story came out, from just before Blair's graduations, when Andrew began acting very strangely, all the way through the events in Maine just a couple weeks previous. Tarah listened, put an arm around Blair's shoulders when her companion grew emotional, until Blair reached the end of her tale. Tarah gave her friend a gentle squeeze after a few moments of silence. "Hey," she said, trying to sound reassuring to her new friend. "You're a hell of a lot stronger than I am; I have no idea how I would get through things like that."

Blair nodded sadly, her mood considerable lower than before. "Guess I'm stubborn," she said, her wry humor thick as she spoke.

Tarah shook her friend gently. "No need to dwell on the past," she said, before releasing her friend and standing from the bed. "You know what we both need? Crappy zombie movies."

Blair gave Tarah a slightly confused look before giving her a small smile. "Are you sure that _you_ weren't supposed to be my twin?"

Tarah laughed slightly. "Pretty sure," she said, holding her hand out to her new friend, helping her off the bed. "Point the way to a television."

A few doors down from Blair's (and now Tarah's) bedroom was what the Sherman-Broom family lovingly called the movie room. There was a large television (like 52 inches), but it wasn't one of those fancy flat screens. It was an abnormally large conventional television, which had become quite a rarity. Tarah couldn't remember the last time she had seen on, let along one that big. The television sat on a large TV cabinet, which held an old VCR and a DVD player. The TV was against the back wall with a large sofa about teen feet away from it, in the center of the room.

The shelves were filled with some many different things that Tarah wasn't sure where to look first. There were old televisions; probably every available type since it had first came out. There weren't, however, any flat screens, which Tarah questioned. "Daddy doesn't like them, "Blair said simple, scanning the shelves along the back wall on either side of the television.

"You have so many movies," Tarah sighed, obviously happy about the thought and the wide selection of films. Blair was scanning the spines of DVD boxes, pulling movies from the shelf. The movies appeared to be in alphabetical order, with numerical titles coming before the letters. Blair pulled several movies, loading her arms up rather quickly.

Tarah held her hands out, offering to take some of Blair's load. Tarah examined some of the titles while Blair retrieved more movies. There was a coffee table in between the couch and the television, so Tarah used it to hold the large pile of DVDs that Blair had given her. "28 Days Later? You think this is a bad movie?" Tarah gazed at her friend in disbelief. "This is like, my favorite zombie movie ever!"

Blair continued picking various movies from the shelf. "Does it even count as a zombie movie? I mean, they're not dead, and isn't the definition of a zombie supposed to be a reanimated corpse?"

Tarah shook her head. "That may be true," she said. "But you've gotta admit, the infected in the movie are the scariest things I've ever seen."

Blair laughed a little. "This is true; pop it in and we'll save some of the classics for later."

Tarah went to the television, turned it on along with the DVD player and placed the 28 Days Later disk inside. "By classic do you mean Dawn of the Dead?"

Blair nodded, bringing her new load of DVDs to the coffee table. "The original," she said, plopping down on the couch and snatching up the television remote.

The girls were watching 28 Days Later, completely engrossed in the film. It was getting toward the end of the movie; where there was an infected person running through the manor the lead females were being held captive in. It was at a particularly tense moment when Hanna was in the bathroom, high on pain pills, and hiding behind a mirror from an infected solider.

Tarah and Blair were both sitting on the couch, their chins resting on their knees. The infected solider on the screen screeched, causing both girls to jump. Then an alarm within the BPRD sounded, a loud piercing wail. Both girls screamed, jumping off the couch and to their feet. "What the hell is that?" Tarah asked, her hand over her racing heart.

Blair was standing doubled over, panting as if she had just run a mile. "It's an alarm, but it's not a mission signal; it's something different."

The two girls moved to the door and peeked out into the hallway. There was a flurry of activity; agents were running down the hall toward the elevator loading dock for that floor. Blair caught sight of one and called out to him. "Copper!"

The agent turned toward Blair's voice; he was average looking, with dark hair (similar to the infamous Agent Clay Tarah had heard about from Trevor). "Blair, I need you girls to stay in there and lock the door. Don't come out till I come get you."

"Wait, why?" Blair's eyes widened with panic. "What's going on? Where's Nick?"

Agent Copper held his hand up to stop Blair's questions. "I'll find him and send him here real quick, but you two don't leave this room."

"Why?"

"Someone has breached the exterior gate and they're trying to get into the bureau."

**Dun Dun Dah! Cliff hanger! I hope you enjoyed this one!**


	13. No One Saw This Coming

The two young women sat in the darkness of the movie room as the alarm continued to wail. Nick hadn't come yet, and Blair was getting nervous. No one had tried to break into the BPRD before; at least, not since she had been alive.

They weren't sure how long it had been since the alarm had gone off, but they both knew that the constant wail of it was giving them both a headache. It was getting late into the night before, at long last, the alarm went dead.

Tarah breathed a sigh, removing her hands from her ears. She gave her friend a look, her eyes asking, "Is it time to go investigate?"

Blair nodded standing and then helping her friend to stand before walking to the door. She turned the knob slowly, pulling the door open just a crack to peer out, checking to see if the coast was clear. Blair heaved a sigh of relief and then pulled the door open all the way.

Standing in the door way was Nick; it was almost as if he had magically appeared. Blair yelped in surprise, jumping in front of Tarah in an attempt to protect her. "Blair, calm down, it's me!"

Blair let out an exasperated sigh before flinging her arms around the young man. "Don't ever scare me like that again," she said as Nick returned her embrace.

"I won't," Nick said, glancing from Blair to Tarah. "I was just coming to make sure the two of you were okay; I got a little caught up in trying to restrain the guy who broke in."

Tarah began picking at her fingernails, as was her habit when she was under stress. "He managed to get in?" That was a frightening prospect; shouldn't a top secret military agency that wasn't technically supposed to exists be impregnable?

Nick nodded as Blair finally released him. "Yeah, but he only got as far as the lobby upstairs before he was apprehended. He smells drunk."

Tarah's interests were peeked; how could a drunken man manage to get in? Shouldn't he have a hard enough time sneaking into his own home? How could he have managed to get into the bureau? Blair spoke up before Tarah had the chance to question Nick further. "Where is he being held?"

"Right now he's being restrained in the medical ward," Nick explained, taking his girlfriend's hand and squeezing it reassuringly. "We're pretty certain that he doesn't have any abilities that he could use in order to get loose."

Tarah nodded; she wasn't sure why, but something deep in her gut was telling her to go to the medical ward to see the drunken man. "Show me," she said, finally managing to stop picking at her finger nails. She moved her hands to her sides, clenching her hands into fists so she wouldn't be tempted to pick at them anymore.

Nick gave her a strange look, but nodded, dragging Blair behind him as they went. "He was rambling nonsense when we finally got him," he explained. "Something about 'water demon' and 'Tallulah.'

Blair and Tarah both stopped suddenly. "No way," Tarah said softly, picking up her pace. "It couldn't be…"

Tarah made it to the glass door of the medical ward before Blair and Nick. She had her hands pressed against the glass, looking like a wide eyed child looking into a toy store. But her eyes were not wide with wonder; her face held a shocked and pained expression as she looked over the man lying on the table.

He had light brown hair which was knotted and matted, as well as a long scraggly beard. His eyes were bright green and wide with fear as he rambled inaudibly. Blair looked to her new friend who had tears in her eyes. "Tarah?" Blair put a hand on the girl's shoulder.

Tarah took a shaky breath before she spoke. "That's my…That's my dad."

**Dun Dun Duh! I've done it again! Lol! I love presenting cliff hangers!**

**Also, I've got a request: I'm looking for anyone who is on Deviantart who would be willing to collaborate with me on character sketches. I'm not very good at drawing, see, and so if anyone is willing to lend a helping hand involving any of my stories, it would be greatly appreciated.**

**So, yeah, R&R check out my other stuff, and I'll see you next time!**

**XXOO~BBTM**


	14. Knocked Up By The Devil

The Red team arrived home early in the morning; Trevor's digital watch on his right wrist read 2:30 a.m. Despite the late hour, Trevor wanted to see Tarah; he had missed her.

The truck entered the loading dock, and as the hatch lowered, Trevor saw his older sister and her vampire boyfriend standing arm in arm. Trevor rushed over to them. "Where's Tarah, B?"

Blair took in her brother's soggy appearance. "You look like a drowned rat T," she said, a smirk dancing across her lips.

Trevor shook his head like a dog at his sister in an attempt to get her wet, but his shaggy hair was dried. "Where's Tarah?"

Nick stepped forward. "She's in the medical ward; something happened."

Trevor began to panic. "What? Is she alright? How is she? How's the baby?"

Blair smacked her twin brother's arm. "T, knock it off!"

Nick began leading the way. "Just follow us," he said. Trevor and Blair went along with him, leaving the adults to handle unloading the weapons and dead creature from inside the truck. Liz sighed as she helped her husband unload his weapons trunk.

"What's eating you Liz?" HellBoy asked as they pushed the trunk into its proper location.

Liz heaved a sigh again, putting her hands on her hips. "All this 'young love' is making me…well, I feel like an old fart."

Abe cast her a look. "Liz, you're only forty-eight."

Liz scoffed as her blue brother walked away to put his books back in Professor Broom's study. "I know I'm not old, I just feel old."

HellBoy walked up behind his wife, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling his nose into her neck. "How can I make you feel…not old?"

Liz laughed a little at her husband's odd choice of words. "This helps," she said, wiggling free of his grip. "But we can work on more later."

HellBoy growled playfully at his wife, watching her as she walked away. _I love her_ he thought, walking up behind her quickly and gently patting her behind with his left hand before going around her into the truck to finish unloading.

**XD XD XD**

Trevor followed Blair and Nick through the halls of the BPRD as Nick explained what all had transpired just a few short hours before. Trevor listened intently, wanting to know exactly why his girlfriend was in the medical ward.

When Nick revealed that Tarah wasn't _in_ the medical ward as opposed to standing outside of it, Trevor breathed a sigh of relief. Nick explained how the drunken man had gotten inside the bureau, how he had been apprehended; Blair interjected with the story of how she and Tarah had been told to stay in the movie room until the coast was clear.

Nick was just about to explain that the drunken man was Tarah's father, when they rounded a corner and Nick saw Tarah, her hands pressed up against the glass of the medical ward. Trevor ran to her, but slowed when he realized that she was crying. "Tarah?" he asked.

Tarah turned her face toward him; she looked tired and paler than usual. She walked away from the window and closed the space between them, wrapping her arms around Trevor's stomach and burying her face into his broad chest.

Trevor wrapped his arms around her while trying to get a look inside the medical ward. He could see a man with light brown hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in over a month. He was staring blankly at the ceiling with large green eyes and his mouth was moving quickly as he muttered to himself. "Tarah, what's wrong?" Trevor pulled Tarah away from him to look into her face. "Why are you so upset?"

Tarah wiped under her eye with the heel of her hand and sniffed as she looked up at her boyfriend. "Trevor," she started, taking Trevor's hand in her's and pulling him over to the window. She gently placed her hand on the glass as she spoke. "That's my dad."

**XD XD XD**

"Well, my sleep schedule is fucked all to hell," Blair muttered as she leaned against Nick in the briefing room.

"Blair Fionnuala Sherman-Broom! You watch your mouth!" HellBoy looked rather grumpy himself. It was going on three in the morning and no one had been to sleep yet.

Abe stood at the head of the table much like he had when they had been briefed on the mission in Georgia. "Well, I've checked Thomas Golds's vitals and he appears fine; he has a high blood alcohol level, but other than that he is perfectly normal."

Tarah shook her head. "It looks like he hasn't bathed in weeks," she said, running her hand through her hair before twisting her engagement ring in an agitated way. "That's not normal for him. He's a neat freak and was always obsessed with his appearance."

"The drink makes people do some strange things," Liz said softly, giving her husband and brother each a sideways glance. "Like die and do the dishes or almost blab your friend's secret to her oblivious boyfriend."

Abe sighed heavily. "I've been apologizing for that for almost twenty years," he said, rubbing the back of his neck in a semi agitated manner.

Liz nodded with a smirk. "I know Abe; just trying to lighten the atmosphere."

"Anyway," Abe began again, turning his look to Tarah. "What we're all really worried about is how he managed to get here and break into the bureau. It's not an easy feat. Tarah, are you sure you haven't been in touch with your father since you got here?"

Tarah shook her head as Trevor put an arm around her. "I haven't spoken to either of my parents since I was a kid and they sent me to live with my grandmother. I have no idea how he found out about this place, or that I was here."

Abe shook his head. "Well, we're just going to have to wait until he sobers up to find out how he got here."

Everyone nodded in agreement and then got up, wandering like a bunch of zombies to bed.

**XD XD XD**

Trevor had just finished taking a hot shower and was walking back to his room; the path he took was a long one, taking him past the medical ward. Part of him wanted to get a glance at his future father in law. But then again, the man wasn't much of a father to his daughter. Trevor began to realize that he was very lucky because it appeared that he wouldn't have to deal with in-laws at all.

As Trevor was going past the ward, he glanced inside and saw Tarah standing beside her father who had finally given himself over to unconsciousness. Trevor opened the door just enough to slip inside; Tarah didn't notice at first. She stood, holding her father's left hand and talking to him gently. "Dad…I er…I just wanted to let you know that…I'm happy. I'm engaged to a wonderful guy and I'm going to have his baby. _Our_ baby." Tarah gave a small laugh as her other hand went to rest against her stomach. "Sometimes, I wonder if you were ever happy with me, Dad. Did you ever actually want a daughter?"

Trevor cleared throat lightly to get Tarah's attention. She turned to look at him and quickly blushed as she turned back to her father. Trevor gave her a confused look but then remembered that he was only in sleep pants with a towel hanging over his head. He laughed gently, his tail swishing lightly as he came over to Tarah. "You doing okay?"

Tarah nodded, never releasing her father's hand. "It's weird," she started, glancing at Trevor out of the corner of her eye. "Seeing him after all these years; it's a trip. Not a very good one."

Trevor nodded, putting an arm lightly around Tarah's shoulders. They both jumped when they heard a groan and realized that Thomas was waking up. Before his eyes opened he began rambling. "Darkness…took her…Samantha…give back…"

Tarah's eyes widened at the name. "Dad?" She squeezed her father's hand lightly. "Dad, what about mom? What's wrong?"

"Devil…took her…Tallulah…must warn…evil…"

Thomas's eyes shot open and he turned his gaze toward his daughter. It softened slightly until he saw Trevor; Thomas began to panic, struggling against his restraints. "Tallulah…Devil…behind you…"

Tarah shook her head and spoke in a soothing voice. "Dad, no, he isn't the devil. This is Trevor; he's my fiancé. We're having a baby," she said softly, a gentle smile on her face.

Trevor attempted to smile at the man, but he realized that something was very wrong with him. Thomas began screaming, tears flowing from his eyes. "No! First he took my Samantha, now he's knocked up my little girl!"

"Dad! Calm down!" Tarah put her hands on Thomas's shoulders in an attempt to get him to lie still. The machines he was hooked up to that were tracking his heart rate and brain function were beeping loudly as the older man continued to panic. "Trevor, go get Abe!"

Trevor nodded and started to leave the room when his uncle pushed past him toward the panicking man. "Take Tarah to her room," Abe said in a calm voice as he attempted to medicate Mr. Golds. Trevor nodded, gently grabbing Tarah's arm and pulling her out of the room.

Tarah's face was pale and her brow was creased with worry. The door to the ward closed behind them as they stood in the hallway. "Well," Trevor said, pulling the towel off of his head. "That went better than I thought it would." Seeing that his humor wasn't helping Tarah, he put a comforting hand on her shoulder after throwing the towel over his own shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Tarah nodded with no enthusiasm. "Great aside from the fact that my father thinks I've been knocked up by the devil," she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Something is really, really wrong Trevor. I think something has happened to my mom."

Trevor nodded as he began pulling Tarah along the hallway. "We'll figure some things out after some sleep," he said, pulling her toward Blair's room. "Good night," he said, kissing her forehead lightly before starting to walk toward his own room.

"Can I come stay with you?" Tarah asked, twisting her ring around her finger lightly. A new nervous habit in the making.

Trevor gave his fiancé a smirk. "I said we needed sleep."

Tarah narrowed her eyes as she walked up to him and pinched his back side lightly. "I don't think I can handle sleeping in a cot alone. Please?"

Trevor nodded, putting his arm back around her. "You know, you're a bad influence on me," he said as they made their way to his bedroom.

Tarah laughed lightly as they walked. "You know you love it," she said, tugging the towel off of his shoulders and throwing it to hang over his head again.

Trevor laughed a little as he adjusted his head dressing so that he could see where he was going. "Every minute of it."

What the couple didn't know was that, at the moment of their conversation, a dark shadowy figure was standing outside the BPRD, a smirk on her face. "I'm coming for you Tarah; just you wait."

**Whoo, I didn't think I was ever going to get this chapter to sound right. I'm getting all distracted lately. I've been really getting into my Treasure Planet fic, but don't worry; I love all my fics as children. The TP one is just a new born and is in need of more attention…I guess...**

**Anyway, R&R and I'll relieve your cliff hanger shock as quickly as I can.**

**Till Next Time!**

**XXOO~BBTM**


	15. The Story of Tarah's Family

Everyone was up by ten a.m., but no one was happy about it. Abe had to take a look at the dead Altamaha-Ha and attempt to figure out why it had taken to attacking humans. Liz had to do the paper work that always followed a mission (which really sucked for her because she still wasn't totally finished with the paper work from the Maine vampire mission). HellBoy attempted to help both Abe and Liz, but was quickly shooed from the room, having been dubbed a distraction (though for very different reasons), so he opted to spend the day out of everyone's way by working out. Trevor had been told by both of his parents that he should undergo some training with Agent Copper so that he could qualify to have a fire arm.

"Maybe then I won't have to save your butt," HellBoy told his son with a smirk, clearly pulling Trevor's leg. Trevor shook his head and rolled his eyes before going to find Copper. Nick joined him in his search, eager to get some training so that he could begin working as a BPRD agent.

Blair made Tarah a doctor's appointment with the 'family' doctor to get her checked out to make totally sure that she and the baby were alright. Abe was slightly hurt by the prospect, feeling that he was more reliable than any doctor could be; Liz had patted his webbed hand reassuringly. "It's a hellish rite of passage for all mothers-to-be," she explained, shuddering as she remembered having to go through it. Luckily for her she had had Mrs. O'Brien, Nick's grandmother, as opposed to a cold handed doctor in a health clinic.

Blair and Tarah went to the doctor that Liz and Blair had been going to since they moved back to the U.S. Thanks to the U.S. government's ability to falsify papers and it still be okay, the doctor thought that Liz was a single mother living in Newark with her only child, a daughter; she also believed that said daughter was bringing in her friend as a favor. "You'll like Dr. Lucas," Blair said as she drove. Tarah kept fidgeting with her engagement ring. "She's nice enough and she makes sure that you're completely comfortable; no cold hands and no unexpected shots."

Tarah nodded; her mind was going a mile a minute to a thousand different topics. What had her father meant by 'evil' and 'darkness'? Where was her mother? What about her brother Tristan? Whatever became of him?

A little while later, Tarah was lying in the doctor's office, cold ultra sound gel on her belly. She was picking at the hem of her tee shirt as the doctor bustled around the room, getting everything set for the ultra sound. Dr. Lucas was a kind older woman with graying brown hair and a face covered in laugh lines. "So, Kirsten," Dr. Lucas said, using Tarah's false name. "How far along do you think you are?"

"About twelve weeks," Tarah said as the doctor shut off the lights and clicked on the ultra sound machine.

The doctor took the probe in her hand and slid over to Tarah in her rolling stool. "Well, we're about to find out. Now, you said you've been sexually active for about four months?"

Tarah nodded, giving Blair a sideways glance before speaking. "Shouldn't a sonographer be doing that?"

Dr. Lucas gave Tarah a soft smile. "Darling, when you're as old as I am, you become a bit of a jack of all trades," she said before smoothing the probe over the goo on Tarah's lower abdomen. Tarah's stomach wasn't very big at all; Blair was kind of amazed. Sure, Tarah wasn't a tiny girl – she had a thick figure and some killer curves- but she only looked lightly bloated. Not approximately three months pregnant.

The screen of the ultra sound machine was slightly fuzzy; Tarah couldn't make out any definite shapes. She felt rather stupid. She couldn't see her own baby until the doctor began pointing things out. "Well," Dr. Lucas said, pointing to the screen as she spoke. "There's the head-"Blair gave a small gasp followed by a soft cooing. "And there are the hands. Looks like its waving."

Blair tapped her friend's shoulder excitedly. "Look, phalanges!"

Tarah shook her head as the doctor continued, moving the probe across Tarah's belly. The doctor's hand traced along the screen as she spoke. "There's the belly and then we have the feet. So, would you like to know the sex?"

Tarah raised an eyebrow. "You can tell this early?"

Blair was tapping Tarah's shoulder faster in excitement as the doctor spoke. "It's not uncommon to be able to tell by about eleven weeks. You're about thirteen to fourteen weeks, so…"

Blair was bouncing up and down on her toes. "Can we hear the sex? ?"

Tarah shook her head as the doctor cleaned off the probe, putting it away and then turning on the overhead lights. "If you're pretty sure you know, then sure."

Dr. Lucas handed Tarah some paper towels (the rough blue medical kind) to clean her belly with as she spoke. "Like I said: when you get to be my age, you become a jack of all trades. In the past twenty years, I haven't been wrong in determining the sex of a child. Congratulations," she said, helping Tarah to stand and then opening the door to the room. "You're having a boy."

**XD XD XD**

As Blair was driving home, Tarah was gazing at the ultra sound pictures of her baby. Her _son_. There was a small smile on her lips. She was having a boy; she couldn't wait to tell Trevor.

Her smile dropped slightly; the thought of her baby boy made her remember her younger brother. "Blair," Tarah started, looking to her friend. "Can we get to a library?"

Blair glanced at Tarah before clicking on her turn signal. "Yeah, sure. Why?"

"I want to see if I can find anything about my mom and brother."

They went to the local library, which – thankfully- had free internet access. No card required. Tarah sat down at one of the computer stations in the stiff plastic chair; Blair pulled up a second chair and looked over Tarah's shoulder as Tarah began her internet search. She opened a search engine and typed her brother's name, "Thomas Tristan Golds.'

"What's with you guys at the T.T.G. initials?" Blair asked as they waited for the page to load.

Tarah laughed a little. "Dad's idea," she said. "Dad's full name is Thomas Theodore Golds; wanted to make the 'T.T' thing a tradition."

Blair nodded as the page finished loading; Tarah began scanning the page. Her eyes landed on the fifth hit down and a gasp fell from her lips. Blair covered her mouth when she read what was there. The hit was for a major newspaper in Georgia, the date from the previous fall. Tarah clicked the link to read the article titled 'Tragedy on the Altamaha River.'

Tarah's breath was shaky as she read over the article. "Accident…drowned…eleven years old…survived by mother, father… older sister, missing over a year…"

Tarah shook her head sharply before hitting the back button, returning to the search engine and typing 'Samantha Tallulah Golds.' As the page was loading, Tarah pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, attempting to stop the tears from spilling out of her eyes. Blair put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said, rubbing gently as she spoke.

Tarah shook her head. "I never met him," she said. She took a breath to continue, but stopped when the search page came up. Both girls scanned the page; Tarah pointed to the fourth hit down, but clicked on it before Blair could read it.

Another article from the same paper as the first, this time titled 'Mother Disappears after Death of Child'. Tarah read the main points of the article out loud. "Vanished from along the banks of the Altamaha River…son died in river three weeks prior…"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Blair said, holding a hand up, pointing to the screen. "The Altamaha River..? That's where the mission was too…" Blair looked at her friend. "Print both of those articles."

Tarah nodded, printing the article about her mother and then navigated back to the article about her brother while Blair went up to the front desk to pay for them. When Blair came back, Tarah stood and the two quickly left the library. "Blair, what's up?" Tarah asked as they got into the car.

"I smell a rat," Blair said as she got buckled and cranked the car. "A big, fat, stinky river rat."

Tarah gave her friend a confused look. "What the hell are you babbling about?"

"I don't believe in coincidences," Blair explained as she drove out of the parking lot. "There's no way in hell there isn't a connection between your brother and mom and the mission my family went on."

Tarah shook her head. "Wait, that doesn't make sense, I mean, how could there be a connection?"

"I don't know," Blair said. "But something in my gut is telling me that there is; we're going to talk with uncle Abe when we get back."

Tarah sighed heavily as she sat back in her seat. The happy mood she had felt earlier in the day had dissipated.

**Hello all! So, now we know what all went down with Tarah's mom and brother. So sad… :(**

**And Yayness! Tarah's having a baby boy! I decided that she would have a boy as a kind of tribute to my friend's son who was born almost a year ago. Oh, and Blair's little, "Look, phalanges!" actually happened the first time I saw my friend's son via ultra sound picture.**

**So, yeah R&R and I'll see you all again soon! XXOO~BBTM**


	16. Tarah Taken

When the girl's finally arrived home, got pulled in and parked, Tarah was feeling rather nervous. She wanted to tell Trevor what she had found out about the baby, but she wasn't entirely sure how to go about it. She didn't just want to blurt out "Hey, we're having a boy," but she didn't want it to go all After School Special either. Blair led the way back into the bureau, the articles on Tarah's mother and brother in hand. "We're gonna go and see uncle Abe and-"Blair stopped speaking when she noticed Tarah nervously twisting her ring around her finger. "You okay?"

Tarah looked to her friend and nodded. "I'm just sort of anxious to tell Trevor…about the baby," she explained. She noticed that she was twisting her ring and quickly dropped her hands, absentmindedly picking at the hem of her jean's leg.

Blair smiled a little, reaching out and patting Tarah's shoulder gently. "Go freak my brother out; I'll go see uncle Abe."

Tarah returned the smile. "You don't really think he'll freak out, will you?"

Blair laughed as she started walking away. "I don't know, but I can only hope."

Tarah's smile widened as she began walking through the halls. She suddenly realized that she had no clue where Trevor was. She sighed and began her search.

Meanwhile, Blair had quickly arrived at her grandfather's study, which was where Abe tended to spend his time. She entered through the heavy wooden doors and began looking among the piles of books for her blue uncle. "Uncle Abe?" she called. She didn't see him among the books or in his tank, so she cast her eyes up the spiral stair case and called again. "Uncle Abe!"

Abe began walking down the spiral stair case, having just left the autopsy room at the top, the dead Altamaha-Ha waiting on the table. "Yes, I hear you Blaires, what is it?"

Blair smiled at her favorite and only uncle while waving the papers she had in her hand. "I've got something I want to talk with you about."

Abe reached the bottom of the stairs and walked across the room to meet his niece. "What is it?"

Blair handed over the articles on Tarah's relatives and began explaining as her uncle began to read. "I've got this gut feeling that the mission you guys just went on is connected to what happened to Tarah's bother and mom. I'm not sure how, but I've just…"

"Got a feeling," Abe finished Blair's sentence, nodding; he finished reading the first article and quickly moved to the second. "What does Tarah think about your 'gut feeling'?"

Blair moved away, browsing the book shelves that were on eye level. "She doesn't really know how there could be a connection, but she thought it would be a good idea to talk with you."

Abe 'hmm'ed in response as he finished reading the second article. "I don't know Blair; the only connection I see is that everything occurred in the same river. Other than that…" He shrugged at his niece.

Blair nodded her head as she walked back to her uncle and took the papers from him. "Yeah, I understand how it looks…but I've just got a feeling, you know?"

Abe nodded and then gently patted his niece's back. "Why don't you go and find Nick; he told me he had been doing some research on how to change back into a human, and he was eager to share it with you."

Blair hugged her uncle lightly. "Okay; have fun with your giant dead snake."

"Oh, I will," Abe said before walking back upstairs.

**XD XD XD**

Tarah had looked in every possible place she could think of; Trevor wasn't in the kitchen, the movie room, the weight room, or his bedroom. "Trev was in here earlier," HellBoy had told Tarah when she poked her head in the weight room. "He's either in his room or the showers by now."

Tarah had checked Trevor's room first, but found it empty. She made her way to the showers, which were right near the loading dock. It was strange to be so close to the loading dock and not hear agents scurrying about, trying to prepare the Red Team for departure. Tarah walked between a bench and a wall of lockers toward the showers. She saw steam and could hear Trevor singing in the shower.

_Hey Jude_

_Don't make it bad_

_Take a sad song and make it better_

_Remember to let her into your heart_

_Then you can start to make it better_

Tarah sat on the bench and listened to Trevor as he sang; his voice was really good, and she loved to listen to it. It sounded just a bit gravely, and it was a comforting sound to her. Tarah heard the water shut off, but Trevor continued to hum; he walked out of the showers with a towel wrapped around his waist.

When he saw her, Trevor stopped humming and smiled. "Hey babe," he said, walking over to her and kissing her cheek.

Tarah smiled, kissing Trevor's cheek back. "Hey yourself," she said, leaning back slightly as Trevor went to one of the many lockers and opened it. "You planning to audition for American Idol?"

Trevor laughed a little as he pulled another towel out of his locker and began drying his hair. "Hey, the shower heads are very impressed with me, thank you very much."

Tarah laughed as she looked her boyfriend over; _fiancé_ she had to keep reminding herself. It felt rather surreal to Tarah that someone like Trevor would want someone like her. He was just…not perfect, but pretty damn close. He had an amazing body, not near as thick as his father (Trevor was rather tall and would have been lanky if it weren't for the weight training he did with his father), but still _very_ nice to look at.

Toned muscles under fiery red skin; sometimes the sight of him was more than Tarah could take. Tarah watched at Trevor dried off and began to get dressed; she blushed slightly when he dropped the towel from around his waist and forced herself to look elsewhere. She could see Trevor's tail flick around playfully; he was fully aware of Tarah's physical attraction to him.

But it wasn't just his body that Tarah loved; Trevor was just an overall great person. Sure, he tried to appear all tough-guy-sexually-driven-bad-ass, but in all actuality, he was very cool and fun to be around. He loved watching bad movies and making sarcastic comments; he _really_ loved teasing Tarah about anything he possibly could to get her riled up, but she didn't mind. As long as he was smiling, that was all that mattered to Tarah.

"Babe?" Trevor's voice pulled Tarah from her thoughts. Tarah returned her gaze to him; he was dressed in a pair of black jeans with a small opening in the back for his tail. He was just latching his belt on when he had addressed his fiancé.

"Yeah, sorry," Tarah said, running a hand through her hair. "Just thinking." Trevor narrowed his eyes playfully at her. "Not about _that_, you sex hound."

Trevor shook his head as he came and sat beside her on the bench, running his hands through his hair and scratching his scalp. "So, how was the doctor?"

Tarah nodded a little as she scooted closer to Trevor, who held his right arm out to her. He wrapped it around her shoulders in a slight hug as she spoke. "It was definitely a doctor's office…I uh…I've got pictures," she said, reaching into her back pocket and pulling out the ultra sound pictures.

Trevor took them and began looking them over; Tarah was thankful that the doctor hadn't printed the sex on the pictures. "Hey, look! Phalanges!" Trevor said, holding the picture out to Tarah for her to see the baby's fingers. Tarah shook her head as Trevor continued to look, his right arm still around her shoulders. "It's…bigger than I would have thought. I mean, it doesn't look like a sea monkey…not really."

Tarah laughed, watching Trevor's face as he looked at the first pictures of their child. He had a serene look about him, a small smile on his lips, his eyes wide with wonder. "I uh…found out the sex," she said softly. Trevor's gaze flickered to hers, his eyes suddenly full of a deep need to know if he was having a son or a daughter. Tarah laughed a little, stretching up to kiss Trevor's lips gently.

"Well, don't keep me in suspense," Trevor mumbled against Tarah's lips. Tarah pulled back. "Is Casper a he or a she?"

Tarah laughed a little. "Casper?" she asked.

Trevor nodded, holding the pictures he was holding out to her. "Yeah, can't you see? Our kid looks a lot like the friendly ghost," he said, smiling broadly.

Tarah laughed a little at his goofy face before taking a deep breath. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she heard a noise. Trevor glanced around her, looking toward the showers. "What the hell?"

It sounded as if every shower had just turned on, full blast. Trevor handed Tarah back the ultra sound pictures, which she quickly stashed away in his locker before closing it. Trevor went to look in to the showers; every stall was spewing water, and for some reason, every single drain had stopped working. The floor was quickly covered in hot water. "Fuck! Tarah, hop up onto the bench so you don't get burned!"

Tarah did as she was told, standing on the bench as water began flowing out into the locker room. She heard a deep groan from the pipes behind the sinks on the opposite wall. She looked over just in time to see all the faucets begin spewing hot water into the basins, which quickly flooded over; the room quickly began to fill with steam. "Shit! Trevor!"

Trevor sloshed his way back to Tarah, cursing as the water on the floor burned and scalded his feet. He quickly grabbed her up like a small child and ran from the locker room through the rising water. He ran down to the loading dock, located several wooden pallets that were stacked about four feet high. Trevor set Tarah on top before scrambling to get up himself; Tarah grabbed the back of his jeans in an attempt to help pull him up. "Fuck, Tarah, what the hell are you doing?"

Tarah shook her head as she watched water cover the concrete floor. "It's not me," she said. She could hear people yelling and splashing through the water up the hall. HellBoy, Liz and Nick appeared, all of them grimacing against the hot water seeping into their shoes.

HellBoy glanced around the loading dock, spotting his son on top of the wooden pallets. "Trevor, what the hell's going on?"

Trevor shrugged, squinting to see his father through the steam that was filling the room faster than the water was. "I have no idea. Where's B and uncle Abe?"

"Right here!" Abe's voice cut through the steam as he and Blair sloshed their way toward HellBoy and Liz. The water as still hot, but cooling slightly from air contact and because the hot water heater was sure to give out from such sudden abuse. "Brother Red, every faucet and pipe in the building has just started spewing water."

Liz looked toward the shadows of Tarah and Trevor standing on the wooden pallets. "Tarah, can you make it stop?"

Tarah shook her head, suddenly feeling rather weak and useless. "I don't think I can. There's way to much water!" Tarah froze as she squinted through the steam. There was something coming down the hall toward them quickly, a large massive shape. "Look out!"

Everyone turned around in time to see the black mass before it slithered past them through the water, knocking everyone out of the way. HellBoy managed to grab hold of Liz and kept her from hitting the wall; Blair had dived down onto the ground in the hot water, sparing herself contact with the wall as Abe and Nick were thrown from their feet, landing on their butts in the water.

The form slithered up to the pallets; Trevor quickly grabbed hold of Tarah as the creature slammed into their little island, sending them flying. They were thrown onto the concrete ground with had about a foot of hot water covering it. Trevor recovered from the fall quickly, pulling Tarah up with him. The creature had stopped moving once it rammed into them.

Out of the steam, from the shadow of the creature, came the dark figure of a woman. As she came closer Tarah gasped. "Mom?"

The figure came into full view; it was a woman who looked so much like Tarah it was frightening. Like an older mirror image. "Tarah, I've missed you so," the woman said in a sweet voice. A sickeningly sweet voice that Trevor didn't like. He stepped in front of Tarah as the woman took a step closer. "Darling, I need you to come with me."

Trevor stared the woman down. "The hell she is," he said.

Tarah's mother glared at him, her eyes suddenly changing color from hazel like Tarah's to a frightening grey, like a stormy sea. She held her hand out in front of her, palm out and fingers splayed. "Attack this devil."

The black mass from earlier sprung back to life, attacking Trevor, wrapping around his legs and torso and forcing him to the ground. It was the Altamaha-Ha, back from the dead. The ugly eel like creature opened its mouth and tried to bite Trevor's arm; he stopped it by punching it's snout with a grunt. "Not this thing again!"

Tarah watched in horror as Trevor fell into the water and was kept under the surface by the creature. "Mom, make it stop! What are you doing?"

Mrs. Golds gave a dark laugh as she looked at her daughter. "If you come with me, my new pet will leave you devil man alone. No one will die if you come peacefully."

Tarah looked from Trevor who was struggling to get his head back above water to the shadows through the steam of other BPRD members coming to help. Tarah nodded quickly. "Okay, I'll go, just don't hurt anyone, and don't hurt Trevor."

Tarah's mother nodded, a sick grin cutting across her face. She held her hands out in front of her, palms up. Suddenly, the water began being pulled from the floor and into a large sphere hovering just above Mrs. Gold's hands. Tarah felt herself being pulled in, and cried out when her feet left the ground. She was sucked into the giant sphere of water and began to panic; beating on the wall, hoping to get back out, but the sphere was somehow solid enough to hold her inside.

The Altamaha-Ha uncoiled from around Trevor and slithered over to Mrs. Golds, wrapping its self lightly and almost lovingly around her ankles. Tarah could see the others as the steam began to dissipate. "Do not try to follow," Mrs. Golds said darkly.

Everyone watched in shock as Mrs. Golds, the Altamaha-Ha, and the caged Tarah disappeared in a final burst of steam.

**Woo, this was a long one, but I'm really excited about it. I like the action. Don't worry; there will be more to come! And yes, Trevor will find out the sex of the baby eventually, I swear.**

**So, R&R! Till Next Time! XXOO~BBTM**


	17. At Each Other's Throats

The Red Team moved quickly, loading up the garbage truck, gathering their necessary equipment and then getting on the road. Naturally they weren't going to heed Mrs. Golds' warning to not follow.

HellBoy and Liz made sure all the appropriate weapons were loaded, while Abe gathered any materials he thought he might need. Once he had gotten his research materials into the truck, he commandeered the cot in the corner, sitting Indian style and pouring over the books.

Blair and Nick didn't have much to gather, so they, along with Trevor, got their things from their lockers before walking onto the truck. Trevor had found the small card stock folder that held the ultra sound pictures Tarah had been trying to show him. His heart constricted painfully in his chest; he slipped the pictures into his left back pocket before running to join the others on the truck.

The truck quickly got on the road. Hours passed. Trevor had taken his customary seat in front of the many computer screens and keyboards. HellBoy and Liz were sitting together on one side of the table while Nick and Blair sat on the other. Abe hadn't moved from his spot on the cot. Trevor sat straddling the chair he was in, flipping through the ultra sound pictures. He gazed at the images of his unborn child, his throat constricting as he did his best to keep his emotions in check.

"She is really excited," Blair said; she had dragged her chair over to her brother and took a seat beside him, mimicking his position. The truck swayed as she began looking at the pictures over her brother's shoulder. Agent Copper, who was driving, wasn't the best man for the job, but he happened to be the closest qualified agent at the time of departure. "Tarah really wanted to tell you about the baby. Did she tell you the sex?"

Trevor shook his head lightly as he stared at the ultrasound pictures. "Could you just leave me alone, B.? Please?" His voice cracked a little as his throat tightened again; he was fighting fearful tears. He wondered if he would ever see Tarah again, or if he would ever get to hold their child in his arms. Would he be strong enough to save them from whatever monsters that were threatening them?

Blair leaned closer, looking at the pictures more closely. She ran her finger along the picture baby's cranium. "Have you two talked about names yet?"

Trevor's shoulders sagged; he didn't want to talk about the baby now. He didn't even know if he would ever get to see the baby, let alone name it. "B., why are you pestering me?"

"I'm not," Blair said, elbowing her brother lightly. "Now, names little brother."

Trevor sighed, rubbing his left hand across his face before speaking again. "Coraline Elizabeth for a girl-"

"Coraline?" Blair asked loudly; Liz, HellBoy and Nick glanced at the twins, but quickly turned back to the card game they were playing. Nick had taken up Blair's abandoned cards. "Why Coraline?"

Trevor rolled his eyes. "Tarah likes it; she loves the book and movie, and she read somewhere that it means heart. I like it too. We would call her Cora. And we haven't decided on a boy's name yet."

Blair cocked her head to the side. "How come?"

Trevor groaned at his older sister. "B., would you just-"

"Answer the question Trevor."

Trevor shook his head. "If it's a boy, T. wants to name him after members of the family, but she doesn't want him to have any 'T' names."

"Why?"

"Damn it B., I don't know! Would you just leave me the hell alone?"

"Trevor, I'm trying to keep you from moping the entire ride to save Tarah-"

"Well, you're doing a pretty shitty job of it, pestering me about the baby-"

"I'm not pestering you, I'm just asking-"

The twins continued to argue, their harsh words quickly turning into a shouting match. Nick stood up from the table, going to his girlfriend's side, rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her down. HellBoy, Liz and Abe (who had finally looked up from his book) looked like they were watching a tennis match, their heads going back and forth with the twins' words.

"Damn it B., sometimes I wish you were still all depressed and Emo! At least back then you know how to keep your mouth shut!"

Everyone in the truck froze; Trevor realized too late the way his words would come across. He didn't actually want his sister to be depressed again; on the contrary, it had been a very difficult time for everyone. It had been very torturous for Trevor to see his sister slowly destroy herself. He held a hand up toward his sister. "No, wait, Blair, I didn't mean it like that-"

"What _did_ you mean Trevor?" Blair asked, standing from her chair. Nick gently took hold of her shoulders, knowing full and well that she might just pounce on her brother at any moment.

Trevor rubbed his eyes again before holding a hand out to his twin sister. "I just meant that I wish you would stop pestering me. I'm having a hard enough time with everything without you playing '20 Questions.'."

"That's still not an excuse for talking to your sister that way," Trevor turned toward his mother as she spoke. Liz's stern look chilled her son to the bone. "Apologize to her."

"No, Mom," Blair said. She gave her brother a disbelieving look. "You really think things would be better if they were the way they were before? Huh? You think that you would be having an easier time with everything if I was just gone?"

"No, B., that's not what I meant-"

"Well, maybe I'll just go!"

"Blair Fionnuala Sherman-Broom," HellBoy said in a calm but frightening tone. "Don't you ever let me hear you talk like that again."

Blair looked at her brother, her gaze filled with shock and partial disgust. "Trevor, I'm sorry your fiancé has been kidnapped, and I'm sorry that you're worried about her and your baby. I'm worried about them too; we all are! But if you even _think_ that you have the right to lash out at others because you're in pain, I'm ashamed to be your sister. If you think that gives you the right to wish pain on others-"

"Blair," Nick said softly, trying to calm the girl down. "Please-"

"I'm not lashing out," Trevor said, his voice growing louder. " I just want you to leave me ALONE!"

Blair opened her mouth to retort, but was silenced by her mother, who stood quickly and slammed her fist into the table. "Would both of you stop it?"

The twins jumped and turned to look at their mother. Liz's stern eyes swept from her son to her daughter. "Being at each other's throats isn't going to help anything. Now get your shit and get ready; we're here."

There was a flurry of activity as everyone grabbed their weapons and needed materials. The hatch door of the truck opened and everyone formed a line, preparing to leave. Trevor stood beside his sister and whispered down at her. "B., listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I don't want you to-"

"Let's," Blair said darkly, cutting her hand across the air in front of Trevor. "Just go and save Tarah." With that said, the Red team disembarked the garbage truck.

**MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I have returned! I'm sorry it took me so long!**

**I hope you all liked this one. **

**I'm also very proud to announce that I know what exactly is going to happen in this story, and the next story, and it's all going to be epic and ingeniously planed! Hurray! I can't wait to get it all written all down! I've got a basic outline of my next story, which will be more centered around Blair again. She's close to my heart, and I love writing from her point of view. **

**I'm also hoping to do some short fics from when the kids are small or from before they were born with Red and Liz. Lots of plans, and I'll get to them eventually.**

**Before I forget, be sure to check out my newest story 'Interviews!'. Read chapter one for info as to how it will work, then pose your questions and they shall be answered. I'm actually going to write the next chapter of that first thing in the morning.**

**So R&R, the next chapter will be coming soon!**

**Until Next Time**

**~BBTM**


	18. I Forgot to Mention That Snakes Bite

The Red team disembarked the garbage truck in a loose yet secure and cautious cluster. HellBoy and Liz had their weapons drawn, cocked and ready. They took the lead, glancing at each other every few steps. The team entered the riverside clearing that most of them had encountered before, everyone keeping their guard up.

Trevor searched around, his eyes scanning the area for Tarah; Nick remained close to Blair, wanting to protect her, but trying his best not to crowd her. Abe remained toward the back of the group with Agent Copper, who had his hand gun drawn as he examined the area cautiously.

Splashing sounds came from the river, but no one could see what was happening just over the ledge. HellBoy held his stone hand up to get the team's attention. "Everyone stick together – don't go off alone… Not till we have some clue about what we're dealing with here."

Everyone nodded in response, knowing full and well that HellBoy couldn't see all of them as they broke into groups – HellBoy and Liz headed into the wood to the west of the clearing, their weapons ready, their eyes taking in everything around them. Abe and Agent Copper headed in the opposite direction, cautiously entering the wooded area to the east. This left the 'children' – Trevor, Blair, and Nick – alone in the clearing, accompanied only by the splashing sounds in the river.

Trevor sucked in a breath and began walking toward the ledge, determined to look and see what was causing the splashing sounds. "Trev, wait," Blair started, holding her hand out to stop her twin from going too close. "We don't know what it could be."

"No way to find out without looking," Trevor mumbled, ignoring his twin's plea and looking out over the ledge. His eyes widened slightly at what he saw. Standing up to her waist in the water was Tarah, her face lifeless as she watched the water being splashed about by the Altamaha-Ha. The serpent had its head resting on Tarah's shoulder, its tongue flicking in and out of her ear, as if it was whispering to her and its tail was around in front of the two of them, lapping the water and throwing it around like a child.

Blair and Nick cautiously came over to Trevor and looked down into the river. Blair sucked in a sharp breath, fearing for the safety of her friend and unborn nephew. "Tarah! Up here!" She called out to the woman below her.

The Altamaha-Ha's head jerked up to look at the three young people, and it hissed loudly at them. Trevor jumped at his sister and quickly pulled her backwards, away from the ledge, Nick remaining at Blair's side. "Blair, what the Hell are you thinking?"

Blair didn't answer her brother – she didn't get the chance to. Right at that second, the Altamaha-Ha flew out of the river with a powerfully frightening hiss, its mouth opened wide, its jaws preparing to swallow Blair whole.

She didn't have time to scream before her world went black.

**XD XD XD**

Down in the river, still standing where she had been left, was Tarah. She was completely in shock, unable to move or speak. _"Could everything that monster said be true..?"_ She wondered, her gaze locked on her reflection in the water.

_"My master has no interest in you, my child…"_ The Altamaha- Ha had hissed in her ear. _"You are merely a tool for us… a means of getting closer to Anung Un Rama… And his cursed right hand."_

The serpent had used magic to fill Tarah's head with frightening images, the world literally gone to hell. The skies dark, everything cast in a shade of red, and then finally, Tarah could make out three figures. One was tall and extremely muscular, with long horns sprouting from his head and a crown surround by flames hovering over his head. Garbed completely in black, the figure was intimidating, his yellow eyes and black hair shining with the light from the flames above his head.

The second figure was much like the first, though not as tall or thick, but his hair was just as black and his horns just as long. They could have been father and son.

The final figure was the shortest, but still a giant by the standards of the averaged sized Tarah. The final figure had blonde hair as opposed to black, his eyes a dazzling mixture of hazel and golden-orange. His skin was the same devilish shade of red as the other two, his horns just as massive.

_"You're son, my child,"_ The serpent said, forcing Tarah to look at the shortest figure without actually touching her. _"You're son is the bargaining chip my master needs… It is my job to deliver you to him, and after you have brought your son into the world…"_ The creature paused. When he continued, Tarah knew that if he could, he would have been smiling. _"You will join your family…"_

And then Tarah was looking at the river bank, her family playing in the shallow water of the river. Her mother smiling happily, her father laughing, and finally, her younger brother splashing in the water. "My… my family…" Tarah managed to mutter, her voice thick with disbelief and raw emotions. To be reunited with her family after so long… to finally be a part of something as beautiful as a family filled with love… She couldn't wrap her head around it.

The serpent hissed lightly in her ear. _"You will join your family in my belly…"_

And then the serpent was gone and Tarah was alone, standing staring at her reflection in the river. There were distant sounds of yelling, but they were so fuzzy and far off that Tarah didn't notice at first. It wasn't until a gentle hand was laid on her shoulder that she moved. Tarah turned her head to the side to see Liz, her face tight and tired with worry. "Tarah, say something hon," Liz said softly.

Tarah blinked at the woman for a moment before a sudden realization hit her. Her whole family, her mother, father and younger brother whom she had never met, were all long dead and gone. The Altamaha-Ha had swallowed them up, and had every intention of doing to the same to her after she gave birth. A sudden rush of sickness and sadness took hold of her, and Tarah doubled over. Liz caught the young woman before calling out, "Red, get over here!"

HellBoy came sloshing out into the river and lightly put his stone arm around Tarah's back, holding her up. "Liz, we gotta get up there quick," he said, his voice stern yet emotional.

Liz's eyes widened slightly, her face paling. "How bad is she..?"

HellBoy shook his head lightly. "Let's just get up there."

**XD XD XD**

Everyone reconvened on the ledge overlooking the river. There was blood soaking the ground, and Tarah almost couldn't stomach the sweet, coppery smell of it. She gazed almost dumbly around, seeing the tail of the Altamaha-Ha on the ground, twitching lightly, but not managing to move far. Trevor sat not too far from the twitching appendage holding a bleeding wound on his left forearm.

When Tarah set eyes on him – the man she planned to marry, and the father of her child – all life came back to her. "Trevor!" She said, rushing to his side despite the protest of her weak and soggy legs. "Are you alright?" She asked as she knelt down beside him.

Trevor's face remained dark as she nodded. "I'm fine, but that damn thing took a fucking chunk out of Blair." Trevor glanced toward his parents. "Nick and Uncle Abe have her in the truck… it's bad."

Liz and HellBoy exchanged worried glances before rushing over to the truck, leaving Tarah and Trevor along with the Altamaha-Ha's tail, which was beginning to go still. Tarah sat beside her fiancé for a moment before reaching out to him. "Let me see your arm," she said softly.

Trevor gazed at her for a moment before obeying her, holding his arm out to her. Tarah took a shaky breath before focusing her energy into her hand and pulling water from the river. She separated the impurities before manipulating it into a sort of bandage around the wound. Then, taking another cleansing breath, Tarah focused on making the water she was manipulating and the water in Trevor's arm into one.

Trevor went wide eyed as he watched his fiancé work, repairing his skin on the molecular level. The sensation he felt as his skin repaired itself was an interesting one – like a cool wash cloth being wrapped tightly around his arm and slowly warming, melting away into his own skin.

Trevor sighed in relief as Tarah closed his wound and then used the remaining water to wash away the blood on his skin. "Better?" She asked softly, quickly disposing of the water she had left once she was done.

Trevor nodded to her. "Thanks…" His face grew concerned. "Are you alright..?" he asked her.

Tarah shook her head lightly. "No, but it can wait." She quickly stood and began walking over to the truck. "What happened to Blair?"

Trevor quickly stood and caught up with Tarah, gently taking hold of her arm in his hand. "That thing bit into the side of her neck… It would have swallowed her whole fucking head if I hadn't put my arm up to deflect it…" Trevor motioned to the blood stained ground. "This is all her's. Uncle Abe and Nick have her right now."

Tarah nodded, walking slowing up the ramp into the B.P.R.D. truck. Blair lay pale and still on the cot which had been dragged into the center of the small room; her clothes were soaked with blood, as was her skin. Her eyes were opened and lifeless. Nick stood on her left side while Abe examined the large wound on the right side of her neck.

"Jesus, Abe! Do something!" Liz growled frantically from the left back corner of the truck. HellBoy had a tight hold of his wife, keeping her out of Abe's way as he worked. HellBoy's eyes were wide and his breathing shallow as he looked at the near lifeless body of his daughter…

Abe released a shaky breath before looking toward Liz and HellBoy. "There's… nothing I can do… She's lost far too much blood… If we were at the bureau then she would have a better chance, but here… " Abe squeezed his eyes shut. "There's nothing I can do."

"The hell there is!" Liz cried, her usual calm mask tossed aside as her husband held her. "Do something damn it!"

Abe hung his head sadly. "I'm sorry Liz… Brother Red…"

Tarah released a shaky breath. "I think I can do something…" Everyone glanced at her, Liz and HellBoy's looks growing more hopeful. "I might be able to heal her wound… I just healed Trevor's…"

"You have to try, please!" Liz said, tears beginning to stream down her face. "Please Tarah…"

"It won't do any good," Nick's accented voice cut in. Everyone turned their gazes to him. "Abe's right, Blair's lost too much blood… She needs more…"

"Well, where the hell do you suppose we get that, huh leech boy?" HellBoy growled at the young vampire.

Nick shot HellBoy an icy gaze. "She'll get it from me…"

Everyone was silent for a moment, not understanding what Nick intended to do. The red haired young man sat down on the edge of the cot, taking hold of Blair's pale and limp hand in his. "She's bonded to me, remember?" Everyone was silent as Nick looked over Blair's face, his eyes locking into her nearly dead gaze. "My blood can heal her if she drinks it… just like hers would heal me…"

Abe's eyes narrowed slightly as he came to understand what Nick was saying. "Nick, is this—"

"From that book you loaned me, yeah," Nick said softly, brushing Blair's black bangs away from her pale face. She didn't appear to be breathing when Nick spoke again. "This will change her…"

The blood drained from Liz's face. "Are you serious?" The older woman shook her head roughly. "No… no, no way are you going to change my daughter into-"

"Do it." HellBoy's voice rumbled throughout the truck and every eye turned and looked to him. His orange-gold eyes had an odd mixture of both gut wrenching fear and hope. "If it saves her, then do it."

"Red, you can't be serious?" Liz all by growled at her husband, who ignored her.

"Trevor," HellBoy said firmly to his son. Trevor's straightened, acknowledging that he had heard his father. "I want you to help Nick with whatever he needs. Brother Blue, same goes for you. You've got the most medical background if something goes wrong. Everyone else – out."

Tarah gave Trevor one last glance before following HellBoy out of the truck. Liz struggled and protested, but accepted defeat once she heard the ramp close up behind them. Agent Copper stood just off to the side, his gaze uncertain as he looked to HellBoy, clearly wondering what he should be doing.

Tarah walked over to HellBoy and Liz and cleared her throat before she spoke. "Blair's strong… she'll be alright."

HellBoy and Liz nodded and Agent Copper walked over to the three of them, his face still a mask of uncertainty.

As they stood outside the B.P.R.D. truck, HellBoy, Liz, Tarah and Agent Copper all felt their hearts drop as they heard Blair's pain filled screams.

**Yes, yes, I know! I've been gone for too damn long! Just believe me when I say that things have been CRAZY! I hope you all will forgive me! **

**Here it is, finally, chapter 18, and the next to last chapter in the story… I was hoping to make it to 20 chapters with this one, but it would be just too drawn out. I've finally figured out where everything is going, and it's getting there quick, so I'm going to wrap this one up and get started on the next one :)**

**Please review; let me know what you think! Also, I'm planning on writing a story about the twins as small children, so if there's anything in particular you'd like to see about their lives, let me know. Thanks a million for hanging in there!**

**XOXO**

**~BBTM**


	19. Five and a Half Months Later

Five and a half months passed in a blur of therapy, bonding, and – for Blair – blood.

The night the Altamaha-Ha had bitten her, Blair had died. She had stood in the black void of death, before the door that led to the other side, her had poised just over the handle.

_"No,"_ a ghostly male voice said to her. _"You must go back granddaughter."_

"Grandpa Broom?" Blair asked the darkness. The voice had come from the other side of the door. She slowly began to turn the handle.

And then, very suddenly, she had been slammed back into her body in the worst pain she had ever felt in her life.

Nick's bleeding wrist was in her mouth, and she was drinking his blood without even realizing it. And as she did, her veins shrank in protest and her world became nothing more than a ball of flames.

She burned, figuratively and literally, for three days.

Now, almost six months later, Blair stood just outside the medical ward of the Bureau, her hand resting on the glass window, watching her younger brother fuss over his fiancé Tarah.

Tarah's belly was round, her pregnancy full term, and the baby finally on the way.

"Hey," an accented voice said from Blair's left. She peeked out of the corner of her eye to see Nick standing beside her, gazing in through the glass at Trevor and Tarah. "You doing okay?"

Blair nodded. She had resumed the silence that had become so characteristic for her just before she had meet Nick. She hardly spoke, and often retreated from so called 'family' situations. But she had promised Tarah she would do her best to be there when she gave birth. "I want my best friend there," Tarah had said just a few short weeks before hand. "And besides, you're the baby's aunt – you deserve to be there."

It was because of Tarah that Blair now stood outside the medical ward, watching as Tarah did Lamaze breathing and Trevor sat behind her on the bed, rubbing her back lightly and whispering into her ear.

Blair glanced at Nick. "Do you think I'll ever be able to do that?" When Nick cast her a confused look, she motioned toward Tarah. "Have children I mean… every book we've read so far says that vampires can't reproduce except by exchanging blood… they can't have real children."

Nick sighed heavily, letting his eyes drift closed. He knew there were many things Blair would miss out on now that she was a vampire. One big one was having children. Nick shook his head lightly before closing the space between him and his girlfriend. "I promise you, I will do everything I can to change you back…" Nick hugged her lightly. "To change us both back… and when I do, I swear, I will help you to become a mother."

Blair hugged Nick back lightly, a blush dusting her pale cheeks. Nick was always promising to help her achieve her now lost human wishes and dreams, and she swore to help him turn back into a human. They were bonded, by blood and by hearts, and were determined to help each other in everything. Nick kissed the top of Blair's head. "I love you Blair."

Blair simply nodded, but Nick understood her meaning.

_I love you too._

**XD XD XD **

Meanwhile, in the medical ward, Tarah was doing her best to focus on the Lamaze breathing that Liz and Mrs. O'Brien had taught her. She was cursing herself for refusing any pain medication. She really needed it. She groaned at her own stubbornness, tightening her hands into fists and holding the sheet that was covering her tightly. "Damn it!"

Trevor tensed; every time Tarah had cursed in the past few weeks, it had been at him. "Babe, what is it?"

Tarah groaned again, slumping back against her large, red fiancé. "Why didn't I listen to your mom about chewing that stupid leaf?"

Trevor sighed a little, glad that, for once, Tarah wasn't angry at him, and continued to rub the pregnant woman's back. "You've got a few minutes until they come back; you can get it from Mrs. O'Brien then."

Tarah nodded and then resumed her breathing; Trevor continued to rub her back, neck and shoulders, trying his best to be helpful. He started humming, and before long, he was singing softly in Tarah's ear.

_Hey Jude_

_Don't make it bad_

_Take a sad song and make it better_

_Remember to let her into your heart_

_Then you can start to make it better_

Tarah relaxed a little bit when Trevor began singing to her; the deep, gravely rumble of his voice always seemed to sooth her. She hummed along a little bit, before perking up some. Trevor gave her a concerned look. "Are you doing alright?" He asked.

Tarah nodded, turning her head to look at him. "Yeah, I'm fine… just having an idea."

Trevor gave her a curious look and opened his mouth to speak, but didn't get the chance to. Liz and Mrs. O'Brien both came into the room, asking Tarah how she was feeling and weather she wanted Mrs. O'Brien's magic herb or not. Tarah told them that she did, but just before she placed the herb on her tongue, she glanced back at Trevor. "Stay with me..?" she asked, her voice somewhat small and fearful.

Trevor nodded, rubbing Tarah's shoulders reassuringly. "Till the end babe," he said, kissing Tarah's head as she began chewing the leaf. "Till the end of my days."

**XD XD XD**

Four hours went by.

Trevor remained by Tarah's side the entire time, holding her hand, brushing her bangs from her forehead, and giving her sweet reassuring words.

Liz stood on Tarah's other side, coaching the young woman as best she could, and holding her hand in almost a motherly way.

Mrs. O'Brien coached Tarah in a sweet and firm voice.

Blair and Nick stood outside the window, staying out of the way, but waiting anxiously for the baby to arrive.

HellBoy and Abe stood just down the hall, being rather skittish and opting to not watch the birth. Just listening to it was enough to scar both of the relatively old men for the rest of their lives.

And then, amongst the sounds of painful work and encouraging voices, a sharp cry rang out. The baby screamed as Mrs. O'Brien patted its back side and announced to everyone, "It's a very healthy boy!"

After baby and mother had been tended to and Mrs. O'Brien gave the okay, everyone piled into the small medical ward. Random B.P.R.D. agents peeked through the windows as they passed by, offering congratulatory smiles, kind waves, and thumbs up.

Trevor and Tarah sat in the small bed, Trevor serving as a pillow for the new mother who was holding her child tenderly, smiling down at him. Blair and Nick stood at the foot of the bed, small grins on their faces. Abe and Mrs. O'Brien were to the right of the bed, approving gazes sweeping across the new parents. Liz and HellBoy, standing to the left of the bed, were hand in hand, proud looks in their slightly misted eyes.

Tarah smiled down at her son. Quite the image of his father, the baby had Trevor's bright red skin, a small devilish tail that poked out of the blankets, and tiny stubs that would someday become horns. His hair and eyes, however, were somewhat strange, but rather amazing to see. He had his mother's blonde hair, the same white locks she had sported when she was a new born. The baby's eyes were beautiful, a shimmering mixture of Tarah's rich hazel and Trevor's orange-yellow.

"He's perfect," Trevor said, kissing the top of Tarah's head.

HellBoy laughed a little. "Guess making good looking kids runs in the family… Congrats you two."

Mrs. O'Brien's small accented voice piped into the conversation. "What shall you name the little tyke?"

Tarah glanced up at Trevor, a small half smile on her face. "What do you think, Dad?"

Trevor smiled, kissing Tarah's forehead before speaking. "It's up to you Mom… you're the one who did all the work after all."

Tarah glanced back down at the baby in her arms; he was dozing, his lips twitching slightly as he slept. "How about… Jude…?"

Everyone glanced around, giving approving nods.

Tarah smiled to everyone. "Trevor Abraham Jude Golds- Sherman – Broom…" Tarah thought on her son's full name for a moment. "Jude Broom…"

Trevor smiled down at his future wife and his newborn son, a smile on his face and new found joy in his heart. This was the start of an amazing adventure for him… And an amazing blessing to him. _"I've got a new baby, a beautiful girl, and the most dysfunctional family on earth..."_ Trevor thought, his gaze moving around to room, taking everyone in. With a small chuckle he mumbled playfully and sarcastically, "Could things get any worse..?"

**The End**

** Yes ladies and gentlemen! This is the end of could Things get any worse! Thank you so so so so SO much for reading and hanging in there when I kind of disappeared. I really hope you've enjoyed this one and that you'll stick around for another story!**

**Thank you for all your amazing reviews and encouragement! You are all awesome!**

**XOXO**

**~BBTM**


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